Archive for March, 2007
The anti 9-to-5er: Christa Fleming, Des Moines, WA (interviewed in The Anti 9-to-5 Guide!)
My job: I design! Just about anything. Mostly printed pieces, but also stuff for the web. My clients range from independent schools to banks to everything in between.
What makes my gig anti 9-to-5: I work at home in my office on the second floor of my house, while my husband works downstairs as a full-time dad to our two boys, Henry (2 years) and Leo (9 weeks). Working from home was a MUST for me when I knew I was ready to have kids. We didn’t want (nor would we be able to afford) to put our kids in day care, and we just plain love being together as a family. And we hate commuting. And working for other people.
What I did in my former 9-to-5 life: I was also a graphic designer in my former 9-to-5 life. I was a senior designer for a small design firm in Seattle.
How I made the anti 9-to-5 leap: I already had a few of my own clients on the side while I was still working for a firm, so I had a place to start. And the years I put in at the firm had helped me build a nice portfolio, so by the time I was ready to go out on my own, I was able to hit the ground running.
My biggest obstacles: The biggest obstacle was definitely being able to make it work financially. It’s scary to think that someone else won’t be providing you that regular paycheck (AND benefits) twice a month. But finally I decided that I just needed to go for it and things would work out. And they did. My husband kept his job (and health insurance for both of us) for the first year or so, while my business was growing. Things were going really well, and when I got pregnant with our first son, we realized that it would make most sense for my husband to quit his job and be a full-time dad. Now, we’re all together (and usually in our PJs) every day and we can’t believe our luck in making this work.
What’s that link again? ChristaFleming.com
Have an anti 9-to-5 tale to tell? Just fill out this here survey.
March 16th, 2007
Or as Joni Mitchell said, “California, I’m coming home…”
I’ll be reading in San Francisco in early April. Yay!
The details:
Wednesday, April 4, 7 p.m.
Borders - Union Square
400 Post Street, San Francisco
(415) 399-1633
More Seattle, New York, and Vancouver, BC, events listed here. I’ve also signed on to do a few panels, classes, and workshops in the Seattle area this summer. I’ll list those as soon as details firm up.
March 12th, 2007
The anti 9-to-5er: Tami St. Paul, Western Washington (featured in The Anti 9-to-5 Guide!)
My job: I am an apprenticeship coordinator for the Operating Engineers Regional Training Program of Western and Central Washington state. I get to tell people about the great opportunity of apprenticeship, where you can actually earn a living while learning a challenging career working with heavy equipment. Our apprenticeship offers great starting wages as well as health and pension benefits.
I started my apprenticeship in 1987 after working in construction generally in 1986 and seeing that I wanted to become a heavy equipment operator. I have never looked back. I learned early in life that I love to be outdoors and I love the emotional satisfaction of having something tangible to show for my day’s work. This career has satisfied both the need of my psyche to have the work environment that keeps me happy and the financial satisfaction and security of having a family living wage, great benefits, and a retirement plan for the future through working in a union construction workforce.
Oh yeah, and the competitive side of me likes that nobody is trying to pay me less than my male counterparts for doing the same work, as is often seen out in the other world. Women statistically still earning 75 cents to the man’s dollar, that would bug me daily.
What makes my gig anti 9-to-5: The work of a heavy equipment operator is done outdoors in all kinds of weather. It is also done less when the weather is inclement. With proper financial planning, these “off” times are a great time to pursue other hobbies and interests — mine have been family, skiing, snowmobiling, crafting, reading, and traveling. In the summer, I work a lot of hours, and I keep a very flexible social schedule as I may be called upon, with short or no notice, to work overtime to get something critical on the job done. This has its up side as the overtime (paid at time-and-a-half to double-time) provides extra income to save for a rainy day or splurge as a reward for my efforts, and it also provides a satisfaction in the teamwork effort to reach a goal point on a project so that the next phase can begin.
I HAD to seek work in a nontraditional field. I had worked in an office environment and retail and was not well-suited to those industries. From cursing every morning as I fought those blasted pantyhose and their infernal runs to the whole having to spend a beautiful day indoors — the nose prints on the outdoor-facing windows were, I’m sure, problematic for my employers as well. I just had to find some way to be outdoors and find the emotional and financial satisfaction I craved in my work life.
I ran equipment for about 14 years, then moved into a position where I help other people find their career path working with heavy equipment. This requires more office time than I was accustomed to and a learning curve to succeed at my new duties, but the rewards are spectacular. I remember the relief I felt at finding this great career, and I find tremendous satisfaction in helping others to do the same. I still get to be outdoors as I do job site visits with the apprentices to check on their on-the-job training experience and progress, as well as get to work at the training center with the instructors and equipment there. It is really a great gig I have going now.
What I did in my former 9-to-5 life: I started my apprenticeship in heavy equipment when I was in my early 20s. The jobs I had to compare to choose my career path ranged from being a river rafting guide in the summer (which I highly recommend, except for the lack of pay and benefits) and being a ski instructor and chair lift operator (also great, if not great-paying jobs) and working in Alaska on a fish processor (hard work, decent pay, amazing scenery and travel opportunity) to working retail, managing a retail establishment, working in a dorm cafeteria at college, and office work intermittently (none of which were my bag). Oh, almost forgot, shudder — I waited tables for a day — definitely not my gig!
As far as length of time I did each job, they were summer and during breaks from school or part-time while attending school until I ditched the college route as it was also too indoor-oriented and seemed to point me towards outdoor work that was not well-compensated in the pay or benefits categories, though it looked like fun.
How I made the anti 9-to-5 leap: I started my anti 9-to-5 leap as punishment from my father who got me a job working construction as a way to send my little red wagon screaming back to college to get a “real” job. The world may need ditch diggers (see “Caddyshack”), but he figured I wasn’t destined to be one of them. WRONG! I still have to smile at how his plan backfired so badly for him. I was making more money than I had ever in my life as the lowliest helper and material handler on the job site, working hard enough to drop my freshman 15 and sophomore 10, and loving every minute of being out of doors and watching the progress on something I was helping to build.
I took the opportunity to look around that construction site and see what really excited me. I really was interested in the equipment. I’d always liked to drive and that stuff looked like great fun. Having just dropped out of college and kicking around in temp jobs for a year, I got hooked up with an apprenticeship preparatory organization that is grant-funded to help recruit and train and retain women in the construction industry (there is incredible demand in the industry for women who like to be outdoors and build things).
I wanted to look at all my options and make an informed decision about my career path. I found this training reinforced my original goal of working with heavy equipment, though it offered me a chance to check out all kinds of other interesting and challenging careers in the building and construction industry. Then I applied to the apprenticeship program and the rest, as they say, is history.
My biggest obstacles: My biggest obstacles were that this was not the dream of my family. I was to be a veterinarian, by golly, or at least a professional person of some sort. I had to work hard and talk hard to convince my people that this work is my calling. The first day in training on a large bulldozer, there was like this neon banner running through my head that said, “I was born to do this, this is so fun!” I wore a big grin on my face the whole time I was on that first piece of equipment.
Eventually my dedication and enthusiasm won the day and my family and friends gave their blessings. My father is rolling in his grave laughing at how I’ve had to pull all my resources together to move into this new place I’m in in my career path where I kind of help keep the whole apprenticeship thing running. He’d be proud of me as are the rest of my family now.
Whatever you are going to be, work to be the best. The values I learned at home about work ethic and personal ethic really prepared me to be a success in this industry, and I am grateful that my family made me fight for and think about and examine where MY career path would take me.
My tips for other cubicle expats: I really found a lot of very good advice, ideas, and planning strategies all laid out in Michelle’s book. She has done much of the research for you. If you are specifically construction craft worker bound, my best advice for you is, save up some money to keep beans on the table and make ends meet. Then bail out of the cube and into a gig where you get to work outdoors, do volunteer work building something for someone in need, go to one of those apprenticeship preparatory places, get a job as a landscaper, knock on doors till someone opens one or you find one you can break down. Keep trying, people often will eventually give you a shot if you show your earnest interest.
Try it out to make sure you will get what you need out of it. Construction is a huge growth industry at this time in history, projected to grow nationwide 13 percent over the next six years and also about to experience a need to replace 30 percent of our workforce that are retiring baby boomers. If you find you like it, choose what you like best and go for it. Jump in with both feet — if you don’t get into your chosen trade’s apprenticeship the first time, be persistent, talk to the people doing the selection process, find out what the holdup is, respectfully request advice on what you can do to improve your chances to get into the program, or find out where you were lacking and fix it. Then follow through, be detail oriented, provide all requested documentation, and see where you wind up.
What’s that link again? The website for our apprenticeship is oetraining.com. You can find information on all apprenticeships in Washington state at lni.wa.gov. (Go to Trades and Licensing and then proceed to the Apprenticeship area.) Best wishes finding what you need to have your worklife be as satisfying as possible.
Have an anti 9-to-5 tale to tell? Just fill out this here survey.
March 12th, 2007
The anti 9-to-5er: Jen Guyer, Seattle (featured in The Anti 9-to-5 Guide!)
My job: Home stager. [Jen makes the rooms in houses for sale look nice so that people will buy.] I started a career in home staging so I could get out of the mundane lifestyle of a 9-5′er! So far so good, the staging career has taken off!
What makes my gig anti 9-to-5: I work for myself. It was important to change my lifestyle and workstyle when I had kids. I just didn’t want to be stuck at the office when I could be picking them up from school and participating in field trips. Never thought I would have kids or my own business, but I have found that the two really do work well together.
What I did in my former 9-to-5 life: Digital Video Editor and Video Streamer for TV and Internet companies in Seattle.
How I made the anti 9-to-5 leap: I made the leap by…GASP…moving my entire family into my parents’ house. Now THAT was a sacrifice, for my parents. Ha.
My biggest obstacles: Every day was a hurdle. It was hard to learn to sell myself in a new industry. I worked very hard on how to speak to others in an authoritative or expert manner. People were putting their trust in me and I didn’t want to let them down. Every aspect of owning a business was a hurdle! Filing papers with the state, getting a lawyer, putting together a website, getting a good accountant, making and distributing marketing materials…yadda yadda yadda.
My tips for other cubicle expats: If you read about a career and it is something you really think you will be good at AND enjoy, then DO IT.
What’s that link again? StagedByDesign.com
Have an anti 9-to-5 tale to tell? Just fill out this here survey.
March 9th, 2007
Welcome to March 8th, otherwise known as International Women’s Day (a.k.a. International Working Women’s Day). In honor of estrogen, I thought I’d direct your attention to “The Motherhood Experiment,” an oh so interesting New York Times Magazine piece by journalist Sharon Lerner on how family-friendly workplace policies correlate to population growth (or lack thereof) around the world.
This is not a pro- or anti-procreation piece. Nor is it an attempt to fan the flames of the mommy wars. It’s simply meant to point out that workplace policies may be affecting population growth, as women in the world’s wealthier nations seriously weigh how breeding might impact their careers and vice versa. I don’t know about you, but this is not something my mother mulled over before having my sister and me. But it’s certainly something I’ve weighed over the years.
But enough about me. Check out this kickass excerpt:
To the dismay of pundits and politicians alike, women in industrialized countries and elsewhere have been bearing fewer and fewer children. More than 90 states have fertility rates below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman, and the trend, which began in the early 1960s, is already leading to fewer workers, graying populations and dire predictions about vanishing peoples. While scholars blame several phenomena, including greater access to birth control, later marriage and a drop in what one researcher calls “hopefulness about the future,” many researchers agree that at least part of the problem is due to the particular burdens women face in the work force. If becoming a mother requires a woman to take a huge financial and professional hit, the thinking goes, she will be far less likely do it.
Could it be, then, that easing a woman’s ability to hold a job and raise children simultaneously will nudge her toward having a bigger family? At least 45 countries in Europe and Asia are betting on it, having instituted government programs to maintain or raise their fertility rates. Contrary to the rhetoric of many family-values champions, their example suggests that the promotion of larger families and the promotion of women’s careers may go hand in hand.
Read the rest here. And if you want to add your two cents to the discussion, comment away.
March 8th, 2007
Yay, I have upcoming Vancouver, BC event dates. Behold:
Thursday, April 26, 7:00 PM
Sophia Books
450 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
(604) 684-0484
Friday, April 27, 7:30 PM
Vancouver Public Library
Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level
Central Library
350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver
(604) 331-3603
Sponsored by Banyen Books
I also have New York dates for mid-May, here. And the Washington, DC dates should be squared away very soon. More on California and Oregon after that.
March 7th, 2007
Here’s a 20-minute radio interview I did yesterday (March 6th) with superstar NPR interviewer Megan Sukys on “The Beat,” an afternoon Puget Sound show on 94.9 KUOW that has a bit of an artsy, entrepreneurial bent. Hear what practical steps I recommend taking before fleeing the cube — and how you can avoid the same mistakes I made when I first set out on my own. Have yourself a grand old listen.
March 7th, 2007
The anti 9-to-5er: Leslye Wood, Seattle (featured in The Anti 9-to-5 Guide!)
My job: Freelance marketing communications — strategy, messaging, copywriting since 1997.
What makes my gig anti 9-to-5: Within the scope and timeline of each project, I can work whenever and wherever I like. I can choose my clients. The profits from my corporate work fund the pro-bono work [freebies] I do for organizations and causes I’m passionate about. After nearly 10 years, the freedom of this still astounds and delights me.
What I did in my former 9-to-5 life: In my corporate incarnation, I went from an eager first-time manager who loved my work to a burned-out executive zombie in 12 progressively more stressful years. As I worked my way up to Director of Marketing and Sales, the work required me to be increasingly disconnected from the things I loved to do and increasingly engaged in the things I didn’t love to do. The hours got longer and the satisfaction thinner. I woke up one morning and realized I was miserable.
How I made the anti 9-to-5 leap: In classic “best thing that ever happened to me” style, I lost my job and found my passion. I was lucky enough to have a modest severance package, which allowed me the luxury to not rush into my next chapter. Even so, I had only set my sights on a similar position in a less crazy company. But through sheer synchronicity, while interviewing and hoping for the perfect job offer, I stumbled on the opportunity to try some freelance corporate communications. I was hooked. When the job offer of my dreams came, I turned it down and jumped off the cliff into entrepreneurship.
My biggest obstacles: I was recently divorced, had one kid in college and another to follow shortly. I had a big mortgage and no guarantee of freelance work. I didn’t really even know what a copywriter was. It didn’t matter. I knew I had discovered a gift for writing and a strong pull to create a business. I felt that if I turned my back on the opportunity and played it safe, I might not get another chance. A lot of people have told me how much they admire the courage it took to make this decision. But frankly, although I went through the motions of evaluating the job offer, it really didn’t feel like a decision. I just knew I had to do it.
My tips for other cubicle expats:
- Find a niche or two where you can really shine.
- Hone your craft continually.
- Build relationships and empathy with your clients — understand their daily pain points and become someone who helps relieve them.
- Be more than a writer — offer expertise in strategy, ask hard questions and challenge assumptions, stay on top of your clients’ industries.
What’s that link again? My business site: ljwood.com. My current pro-bono work in Nigeria: blog.ljwood.com and SweetCrudeMovie.com.
Want to be a profiled anti 9-to-5er? Just fill out this here survey.
March 6th, 2007
The anti 9-to-5er: Jennifer Dziura, New York City
My job: I am a comedian who, when not being funny, tutors teenagers for the SAT. Aside from the money I make directly from comedy, my websites generate a bit of cash (in addition to my comedy blog at JenIsFamous.com, I review ridiculous sex toys on SarcasticSex.com).
What makes my gig anti 9-to-5: I write jokes and plot world takeover in my pajamas until about 3 p.m., when the kids get out of school and I go do some tutoring at dining room tables across the Upper West Side [in NYC], and then I head off to a bar or comedy club to tell some jokes. Every couple of months I head off on tour — I hit the East Coast in March, and then Ohio and Los Angeles in April, and Portland, Oregon, in July.
What I did in my former 9-to-5 life: I was a Director of Marketing for a social networking site for graduates of top universities.
How I made the anti 9-to-5 leap: I was laid off by my dot-com, which had no particular revenue model. I tried art modeling, which requires standing still for hours at a time. I wasn’t making money from comedy yet — that happened slowly, over a few years.
My biggest obstacles: Cash. In 2005, I donated eggs for $8,000, and having a little cushion in the bank was what allowed me to focus on the long-term and develop my comedy and tutoring businesses.
My tips for other cubicle expats: Sell expensive things to people who have much more money than you do. Most businesses that focus on extracting money from people in your social circle are, in my experience, not very profitable.
What’s that link again? JenIsFamous.com
Want to be a profiled anti 9-to-5er? Just fill out this here survey. I’ll slap up as many profiles as I can a week.
March 6th, 2007
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