Avianna Raczko is an American transgender woman who began her transition at the age of 60, after building a successful career in marketing, business development, and financial services. With academic degrees in economics and finance, she went on to become a prominent marketing leader, helping establish one of the first digital-only banks in the United States and supporting the growth of early-stage fintech companies. During her career, she also held leadership positions at major global financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, and takes particular pride in seeing former colleagues develop into successful leaders themselves. During Pride Month, Avianna publicly introduced herself under a name inspired by her lifelong affinity for birds and their freedom of flight. Derived from Latin words associated with birds, Avianna represents a new beginning and the opportunity to express her authentic self. Her transition brought profound changes to her personal life, including the separation from her wife of more than 30 years, with whom she shares a son.
Despite these challenges and the loss of many longstanding friendships, she found acceptance and renewed confidence through LGBTQ+ allies, former high school classmates, and the unwavering support of her family. Avianna’s journey has been marked by both difficult moments and extraordinary personal growth. Supported by her sister, therapist, and close friends, she committed to living openly as herself. Her experiences have reshaped her understanding of identity, relationships, and the courage required to transition later in life. Today, she embraces new opportunities for friendship, romance, and self-expression, finding joy in fashion, theatre, and music. As her professional career winds down, she is also turning toward volunteer work, with a particular interest in supporting the transgender community. In this interview, Avianna reflects on her late-in-life transition, the meaning behind her chosen name, the relationships that have sustained her, and the freedom of finally spreading her wings.
Monika: Hello Avianna, welcome to my blog! For readers who are meeting you for the first time, could you introduce yourself in your own words?
Avianna: Thank you for this opportunity, Monika. I would describe myself as a late-blooming wildflower who aspires to be Mary Tyler Moore, but will happily settle for Mary Poppins, albeit with even more sass and far less vocal range.
Monika: You have had a fascinating professional career, including your experience in marketing, business development, and leadership. Could you tell us more about your career journey, the roles you have held, and the achievements you are most proud of?
Avianna: My degrees were earned in economics and finance, so naturally I ended up being a career marketer. Go figure. My mathematics background gave me a different lens through which to analyze markets and businesses and perhaps contributed to my success. My passion was always for building businesses, including one of the first digital-only US banks, and later growing early-stage fintech and finance companies. In between, I served in roles leading marketing organizations at some of the largest names in global finance. I take pride in knowing many of the talented people I once managed have gone on to significant leadership roles in many companies.
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“The soft, melodic sound of the name
is my birdsong.” |
Monika: Avianna, I love the meaning behind your name. During Pride Month, you introduced yourself to the world as Avianna, a name connected to birds and flight. How did you arrive at this name, and what did it mean to you to announce it publicly?
Avianna: Having the opportunity to rename oneself is a rare privilege, and I wanted my name to provide insight into who I am. I have always felt a connection to birds, for their grace, for their song, and for the heights they achieve. For my whole life, I wished to fly with them, and after an exhaustive search, I finally came across the name Avianna, which is derived from the Latin terms “aviarius” and “avis”, which mean “of the birds” and “birdlike”. The soft, melodic sound of the name is my birdsong, whenever I introduce myself to someone.
Monika: Your words, “it’s time to fly with my new wings,” are such a beautiful way of describing a new beginning. What did spreading those wings look like in practical, everyday life when you first began living more openly as Avianna?
Avianna: Much like a young bird first learning to fly, my life as a woman involved small flights from my nest: a shopping trip, dining out alone, a jog, all tests of my newly grown wings. And then, in meeting a wonderful group of supportive trans and gay and lesbian allies in a local LGBTQ+ center, I rapidly built a social life that gave me the confidence to enjoy many new experiences to their fullest. They brought me out into the world. I think of them as the warm updraft that allowed me to soar to my present state, which is one of childlike joy and deep gratefulness.
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| “My wife and I had a wonderful marriage which I thought would last forever.” |
Monika: You were married to your wife for more than 30 years. That represents a very substantial part of a person’s life, with shared memories, routines, and a history together. How would you describe that chapter of your life, and how did your transition affect the relationship?
Avianna: My wife and I had a wonderful marriage which I thought would last forever, and together we brought our son (my pride and joy) into the world. I am blessed in that I did not realize my true gender until recently and thus was not tormented for years or decades about my identity. And so, if given the opportunity to live my life over again, I would not change a thing. There was simply too much good. Sadly, my wife and I have separated since I announced my decision to transition, and we are beginning to live our lives without one another. I miss her and I wish her eternal happiness.
Monika: Many people who transition later in life have to reconsider how their past and present fit together. Did you feel that you were becoming someone new, or that you were finally allowing the world to see someone who had always been there?
Avianna: My awakening only occurred in my late 50s, so I would say I am becoming someone new. I have concluded that this is who I am supposed to be at this stage in my life. It has not happened too late or too early. Interestingly, however, I look back into my past and see the clues were there all along. I just wasn’t supposed to look for them at that time.
Monika: You have written candidly about losing many of the friendships you developed over the years. How painful was that experience, and were there particular losses that you found especially difficult to accept?
Avianna: I lost perhaps 80% of my friends, some due to the dissolution of my marriage given how friendships are shared by spouses, in other cases because the friendships were first created through my volunteer work in organizations that are less welcoming to the trans community. And then there were a few for whom this change was all a bit too much; however, I hold out hope that we will reconnect in the future.
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“Becoming Avianna almost killed me, but being her saved my life.” |
Monika: There is a lovely expression in your post about finding “a group of angels” with whom you now fly. How did these special people enter your life, and what makes you feel so accepted by them?
Avianna: As it turns out, I have three groups of angels (or should I say flocks of birds?) with whom I now fly. The first is the aforementioned friends and allies I found through LGBTQ+ centers. Their immediate acceptance and celebration of who I am made me feel as if there was something very right, not wrong, about me. The second are my high school classmates, who rallied to my side, including some I lost touch with for many decades. They have known me and cared about me from an early age, and when among them I learned to laugh again after a period of angst and depression.
Finally, I must talk about my sister, who was by my side in the early, darkest hours of my transition. A failing marriage and early physical complications made my journey feel impossible. There were moments when I thought I would have to abandon my transition, and I admit, abandon life. The paradoxical phrase I use to describe my ultimate survival is “becoming Avianna almost killed me, but being her saved my life.” Avianna needed to live in order for me to live. Along with my sister, my therapist and a special high school classmate were the three heroes who used their superpowers to carry me through, enabling me to make the decision I had to make: commit to living as Avianna 24/7/365.
Monika: Your former colleagues from JPMorgan Chase saw you at a reunion that you described as something of a coming-out event. What were you most concerned about, and how did you feel once you were actually there among people who had known you before your transition?
Avianna: Prior to the reunion, I came out to family, friends and other colleagues in “ones and twos”. That is often the case, as we trans people develop a sort of “trans-script” to share with small numbers of people. I was living full-time as my authentic self for several months by the time the reunion took place, so the only way to attend was as Avianna. I intentionally overdressed for confidence, and I remember several passengers on the LIRR train I was taking into NYC commenting on how good I looked and asking what I did for a living.
Their words had me walking into the event with a confident strut, which is always the most powerful component of anyone’s wardrobe. Only a few people there were aware of my decision to transition, and none had seen me since, so it was a shock to almost everyone, especially many who did not recognize me. Within minutes, my engagement with the group became familiar, even second nature, as if they knew me as Avianna all along. My strut was even more pronounced on my trip home.
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“Now, I understand I wanted to be
the woman in that dress.” |
Monika: Transitioning later in life can mean revisiting experiences, decisions, and relationships that stretch back decades. What has surprised you most about yourself during this period of personal discovery?
Avianna: I am surprised by how quickly my mind has rewired itself. The notion that we are the same people and are just changing our outer expression is a misnomer, often a tool used by acquaintances to help them adapt to the idea that our gender has changed. The reality is that our body, mind, and soul all undergo a transformation on our transition journeys, a journey that really never ends.
In terms of revisiting past experiences, I can recall sitting on a bus in the evenings after MBA night classes I took in my late 20s. That bus would pass a shop on Madison Ave that sold traditional Chinese Cheongsam dresses, and I would look longingly at that bright red dress lit up in the shop window, with its beautiful gold, floral print. Back then, I thought I just wanted that dress. Now, I understand I wanted to be the woman in that dress…and I will be that woman in that dress one of these days.
Monika: Do you think people sometimes underestimate the courage it takes to transition later in life, precisely because they see the person as already established in a career, a marriage, and a social world?
Avianna: The more we are established in the world, the more complex the transition is. We wish we could just keep everything external in the world as-is during our transition, but the fact is that a late transition will unravel the rhythms and harmonies we’ve constructed. In a different society, where gender identity is viewed as fluid and is accepted by the great majority as a concept on a spectrum, this would be easier. We do not live in that society, and therefore courage is necessary to embark on a trip of this sort.
END OF PART 1
All photos: courtesy of Avianna Raczko.
© 2026 - Monika Kowalska
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