Career Transitions : Fearless Flyers

You may have read one of my previous articles on career transitioning which described how to create complementary careers for yourself. This article will introduce you to three people I call Fearless Flyers because they have taken the leap of faith that many of us would only dream of considering.

Fearless Flyer #1 worked for a big gym equipment manufacturer. In fact, she was a regional sales manager for them, doing quite well with sales, I might add. As she visited various gyms, she observed people using the facilities. She realized that people were staying inside buildings working towards their health rather than being outside and getting the extra benefits to their well-being from what the outdoors had to offer. She wanted to be outside in nature. She believed that others would, too. She left her sales management position to start her own business. She invited people to go into the natural settings in their own backyards so to speak, kayaking, doing gentle nature walks, and tai chi. She added natural products like unbleached cotton undies and socks. Today, she has a website, booths at street fairs, and buyers for her products and her vision.

Fearless Flyer #2 is a registered nurse. She has been one for more than twenty years. After some traumatic experiences, she began to paint to help get through them. She enjoyed it so much that she's decided to pursue a major in art. Recently, she applied to a local college to pursue a degree in art and has reduced her hours per week as a nurse. Her works have been in some art exhibits and she has accepted an advisory board position for an organization benefiting healthcare professionals who use the arts for health maintenance of themselves and others.

Fearless Flyer #3 worked as an engineer for several large companies in the United States. He always loved living around water, boating, fishing, and scuba diving. Two years ago, he decided to get his captain's license so he could do charters. He also started writing a fishing report for a local on-line newsletter. A year ago, he added working for a tow and rescue company on the weekends part-time. Four months ago, he retired from his engineer position and took on his own territory with the tow and rescue company. He has cut back on his charters but has quite a following of his fishing report.

These are just a few of the people I know who have made or are in the process of career transitioning. Think of how many more are out there. You can be a Fearless Flyer, too. It just takes an idea, some creativity, and a bit of courage.

Copyright 2005 Kathy Iwanowski. All Rights Reserved.

Kathy Iwanowski, a former cancer nurse and manager, creates art, speaks, and writes about creative living and work. Her articles, editorials, and reviews on art, business, creativity, and nursing subjects have been published in newsletters, ezines, and books in the United States.

To arrange for Kathy as a speaker for your next event or to find out more about her work, visit her website at http://www.kathyiwanowski.com


More Resources

Preparing For Your Job Interview: What You Need To Know To Be Successful
In the limited time an interviewer has with you, their mission is to know you and assess your worth, especially in relationship to the other candidates interviewed. Asking you questions is the way they accomplish that mission.
One Step at a Time in the Job Search
What is the first step to take in a job search?Let's start with "Who Am I?" If the job seeker can answer that question easily, then the rest of what to do, comes easily.It is often the hardest thing to do in a job quest, or anything else in life.
Why Human Resources Are The Real Key To Success In This Information Age
The rapid changes that have mainly been brought about by the information age are numerous and irreversible. They have affected our way of life on virtually every front and have left many old companies in ruins while causing other new ones to swiftly emerge and grow to great unprecedented profitability, literally overnight.
How To Get a Job Offer From Every Interview
About four years ago a friend told me one night that she had an interview the next week and was looking for some comfort as she was extremely nervous, as most people are about interviews. I thought back on my my carreer and realized that in the nine year of my career I had been to thirteen interviews and, more importantly, that I had received a job offer from every one of those interviews.
20 Ways to Advance Your Career
To survive and thrive in today's competitive environment, it is not just what you know. You also need to be competent.
Rekindling Passion for Work
Passion comes in many forms. I'm focused on the version of passion that is "boundless enthusiasm".
Recruiting Excellent Job Candidates
An independent recruiter, recruiting agency or executive search firm is charged with tracking down excellent potential candidates for available job positions. Despite the fact that there are innumerable people seeking positions of employment in the 21st century, it often seems to a typical recruiting agency that qualified men and women are few and far between.
How to Get Hired by Being Obvious
If you want a drink of water, do you hire a focus group or pick up the Yellow Pages? No. You go to the kitchen, fill a glass and drink.
How to Get Paid More Without Being Pretty or Good Looking
Guess what. The results are out they are ugly.
Job Interviews: Answering Whats Your Greatest Weakness?
Many interview guides advise candidates to answer the common "What's your greatest weakness?" question with a positive trait disguised as a weakness. For example, "I tend to expect others to work as hard as I do," or "I'm a perfectionist.
Can You Compete?
Are you looking to hire the best talent? Are you thinking about adding a new employee who will significantly impact millions of dollars in YOUR business? Do you want to hire the best? Then you need to show and convince your next hire that you are serious about him joining your team.In March, we received the following candidate's response to two high level interviews.
12 Steps to Targeting Success in Your Career or Job Search
Is your job search sagging? Are you still looking for that ideal next job? Or are you about to begin looking for new work and are not sure of the best way to go about it? What you need is a way to evaluate your job search strategies to see whether or not they are working effectively for you. Ready to get started? Here are 12 building blocks to a successful job search and the goals that will help you get to where you really want to be in the world of work: 1.
Job Interviews -- The Real Reasons Why You Need to Follow Up
Effective follow-up after a job interview is often a key reason why someone gets a job, even though there are other equally qualified candidates. Many candidates treat follow up as an optional add-on to their job search.
7 Tips for Writing Winning Resume Cover Letters
Writing a good resume cover letter is something you should seriously consider when preparing to send off your resume to potential employers.Here are seven important cover letter writing tips:Address the individual by name.
Is a Career Change on Your Horizon?
Making a career change is nothing new in today's job market.I've heard it said that the average American changescareers at least once in his or her life.
From Bumbling Bosses to Cranky Co-Workers - How to Overcome What Makes You Hate Your Job
I'll be the first to admit that I hated my job. It took many years for me to come to this realization since I kept accepting promotions in the hopes that the awful ache inside of my chest would go away.
Supplement Your Skills and Improve Your Work Position
It is often said that the majority of people are but a few checks away from homelessness. Without a consistent income, this may be a true statement.
Stand Out From the Crowd with Simple Marketing Methods
Although today's job market can be very competitive, many job seekers overlook simple techniques that will catch potential employers' attention. Apply these eight ideas to stay ahead of your competitors and get hired now!1.
Have Enough Money to Change Careers - Five Key Steps
At every talk I give, I ask the audience to tell me the reasons why people don't change careers. The most common answer given each time is "lack of money.
Overcoming Inertia in Job Change
If you can hold on to an optimistic belief in the possibility of success, you have a very powerful motivator of change. But not everyone can, or will need help to do that as some are naturally more optimistic than others.

More Careers & Employment Information:

Related Articles

Three Steps to Writing Your Own Resume
While most professionals hire a professional resume writer, some draft their own resume. People who write a lot for business usually have more success in putting together a sharp, focused presentation; still, anyone can learn the basic steps to prepare his or her own resume.
Ten Healthcare Fields That Cant Wait To Hire You
Healthcare is one of the hottest career fields in America today. The aging and retiring of the largest population segment in the country, known as "baby boomers", has left the healthcare industry racing to find enough employees to fill the void.
10 Warning Signs That You're Ready for a Career Transition
1. You dread getting out of bed and going to work.
Resume Writing - Importance of a Professional Summary
The Summary is the preview of your entire resume. This may be be the only part that an interviewer or employer might read for shortlisting your resume.
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Career Opportunity and Employee Retention
This article relates to the Career Opportunities competency and explores issues such as internal growth opportunities, potential for advancement, career development importance, and the relationship between job performance and career advancement. Evaluating the Career Opportunities competency in your organization will determine whether your employees believe they have a chance to grow within the organization.
7 Steps to Interviews that Win the Job
These days, interviews don't come easily. When you get The Call, make the most of your time -- and go for it!1.
Personal Contacts: The Key to Successful Networking
When the word "networking" is used, we tend to think of upwardly mobile college graduates with a bursting day timer in hand chatting up the competition at business meetings, conventions, or workshops. The average blue/pink/white collar worker disconnects, feeling that they could never be that pushy, don't know enough people to even start the attempt, and that the method only works in competitive business environments.
Culture Shock
Today we hear much talk of the 'global village'. People are have more opportunities to travel and live abroad than ever before.
Take This Job and...Re-staff It
Deciding to leave a job isn't easy. In fact, quitting a job requires courage, especially in today's soft economy when the unemployment rate has reached 6.
Playing from the Blue Tees: Women in the Federal Government
Throughout the past decade, workplace diversity issues have allowed organizations to adjust their policies in response to the need for workplace equality in all aspects. As a result of the dynamic political, social and economic changes, some companies have willingly become more inclusive, integrating women, people of color, gays/lesbians, and individuals with disabilities into their workforce at all levels of their organizations.
How to Turn a Job Search into a Career Find
The only way to find a new career is to stop looking for a job Career success requires the identical effort and targeting as setting a course for continuous professional development.Job opportunities are found through the strategic use of the same steering mechanism that successfully sells products and services: Positioning, Exposure and Marketing.
Preparing For Your Job Interview: What You Need To Know To Be Successful
In the limited time an interviewer has with you, their mission is to know you and assess your worth, especially in relationship to the other candidates interviewed. Asking you questions is the way they accomplish that mission.
Acing The Interview
It's no secret that there is a lot of competition for writing jobs.What makes or breaks you in an interview is more of a mystery that some writers may try to unravel for years.
Sample Resume Objectives: Read, Dont Copy
The resume objective statement is typically something that trips people up.Confronted by the silent challenge of the blank page, most folks Google for "sample resume objectives".
Online Resume Tips and Secrets
I manage a website for corporate flight attendants that features resumes prominently listed on the first page of the site. Unlike some careers, corporate flight attendants must promote themselves overtly in order to find work especially if they are contractors.
Why Culinary Education
If you are thinking about a career in culinary arts then studying in a culinary school is a must. You may be a great cook but you will never become expert learning culinary arts yourself.
Write And Get Hired
Want to get hired faster than up to 97% of other job seekers?Well, you can. By doing two simple things almost nobody else is doing:1) write down a job search goal and2) read it out loud 10 times a day.
Losing Your Job Without Losing Yourself
When we lose our jobs, no matter the reason, we lose a big part of our identity. Think of the last several times you met new people.
Ten Tips to a Job Winning Interview
These days, interviews don't come easily. When you get The Call, make the most of your time -- and go for it!1.
Are You Sabotaging Your Career?
My experience working with thousands of leaders world wide for the past two decades teaches me that most leaders are screwing up their careers.On a daily basis, these leaders are getting the wrong results or the right results in the wrong ways.