Hi everyone.

I've been thinking about this for a long time now, since I started back to work.

I like working in retail, but frankly the money, although helpful to our family, still doesn't get us ahead. It just keeps us afloat.

I did have a career before I had the kids, but it's not a career I want to go back to. It no longer interests me, and I've been out of the loop so long that even if I did go back, I'd have to take a few courses to update myself.

So, since I'd already have to go back to college, I figure why not take the big leap and find a new career. There's only one problem. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. ;)

My interests and strengths are;

Very artistic (I'm a painter, a woodworker, scrapbooker. If it's at all artistic, I can do it, or figure out how).

I type 120 wpm. I'm not interested in a secretarial sort of position. Been there, done that, was bored to tears.

I'm a people person, and love working with different people every day.

I'm a quick learner, and work well with others.

I have been told that I'm a good writer. But then, my kids are biased. ;)

I've been leaning towards something in a creative field, like woodworking, cabinet making, writing, or something like that. But I'm not sure how to go about it.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The long term members all know me very well, so maybe you all can figure out what I should be doing with my life.

For those that don't know me that well, ask questions, I'm more than happy to give you more insight on what makes Alty tick. :)

Those are your skills - what are your passions?

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

Those are your skills - what are your passions?

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Actually, those are my passions as well.

If I list my skills then we're in a whole other ball park. If I go with the skills I have now, I'll end up back in commercial auto underwriting, which I used to love, but have lost the passion for. It's what I went to college for. It's what I know well. It's just not what I want to be doing anymore.

The thing I love most is woodworking, making tables, jewelry boxes, key boxes, anything that's wooden that can fit into my garage. ;)

If I went strictly by what I love to do, I'd be doing that. Sadly, I don't know how to turn that into a career, or even a business.

Have you thought about wood, perhaps jewelry boxes, bird houses (which are very expensive and very well done around "here"), things that are sold at exclusive craft shows?

My neighbor turned her love of basically stringing beads into a thriving jewelry business.

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

Have you thought about wood, perhaps jewelry boxes, bird houses (which are very expensive and very well done around "here"), things that are sold at exclusive craft shows?

My neighbor turned her love of basically stringing beads into a thriving jewelry business.

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I've thought of it. The only problem is that I would need the money to buy the wood so that I can make enough product.

We have a farmers market, two of them actually, every week in my area. Yes, veggies, and breads and stuff are sold, but mainly it's crafts. If you have something no one else is selling you can rent a table for the summer. It's weekly, and the cost isn't bad.

But I don't know if I could get enough stuff made to make it worthwhile to get a table, even if only for a week (which is an option).

I'm afraid that I'll spend the money, make the products, then spend the money for the table, and end up selling nothing. :(

I guess that really the main issue is my fear. I'm afraid I'll fail.

And you still are sitting on that lovely children's book that was so capably edited.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

And you still are sitting on that lovely children's book that was so capably edited.

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I am. :(

Sigh. I do know what's holding me back.

It's a lot easier to work for someone else, get a paycheck, and know for sure that my work will pay off. It's very hard to take a risk, put something out there that either succeeds or fails, especially when you have a family relying on you.

If it were just me, I'd take the risk. But right now we don't have any extra money to put towards my dreams, unless we know for sure that those dreams will become reality, and not break us.

The book, well, I could send it to a publisher, or I could pay to self publish. But it's a children's book. They're a dime a dozen. Millions are written each year, only a very few become successful, must reads. I love the story, but will everyone else? Will it be worth my effort? Will a publisher even see it's worth?

The woodworking is at least something I have some control over. But again, what if no one likes what I make? What if I spend the money to buy the wood, work all summer building, and I don't sell anything?

It's a lot of what if's, and I'm reminded of what Stringer once told me, that you won't succeed if you don't try. You won't fail either, but you definitely won't succeed. It's just such a big risk. Maybe not to some people, but to our family it's huge.

It's a lot to think about, and I've been doing nothing but thinking about it for years. Sadly, the thinking hasn't gotten me any closer to doing.

It's not getting published sitting on your hard drive. So send it out to a children's publisher. The worst they can say is no. Think of J.K. Rowling.

I'll help.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

It's not getting published sitting on your hard drive. So send it out to a children's publisher. The worst they can say is no. Think of J.K. Rowling.

I'll help.

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Truth is, I have no idea how to go about it WG.

I looked into self publishing, but it was way too expensive.

As for sending it to a publisher, I don't even know where to start, or what to do, or who to even send it to. When I looked into it online all I found was publishing houses that offer self publishing. They didn't offer traditional publishing. I guess real publishing houses don't really need to advertise. :(

If I had an address, somewhere to send it, I would. I even asked an author (that had a website a lot like AMHD) for some help. Turns out he was a jerk (which I already knew from his book, but still, I thought he might be willing to give some advice), and wasn't at all helpful. In fact, if I write what he wrote to me, I'd get banned from AMHD. :(

WG, if you're willing to help, I'd be forever grateful. In fact, if the book gets published, I'll pay you for your help. That is if it makes any money at all. ;)

I worked in public libraries for 30 years and cataloged books for half of them. I know stuff.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

I worked in public libraries for 30 years and cataloged books for half of them. I know stuff.

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:)

Well then, if you're willing, I am. I'm willing to give it a try, succeed or lose. At least then I can say "I gave it a shot".

I just checked. I still have it on my hard drive.

Do you have the corrected copy? We need to make sure it's in final form.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

I just checked. I still have it on my hard drive.

Do you have the corrected copy? We need to make sure it's in final form.

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I have it somewhere, but it would take a long time to find it.

If you could email it to me, I'll look it over tonight, make some tweaks, and then we can go from there. :)

The great thing you can change careers several times, I have more than several times, as one thing bores me I move on to something else. So go for the moon pick a dream

Work in a doctors office, maybe a medical asst ( my doctor could sure use a new person to draw blood, the one he has is not that good, I felt like a pin cushion this week.

A dog and cat groomer, artist and so on.

The skys the limit

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

The great thing you can change careers several times, I have more than several times, as one thing bores me I move on to something else. So go for the moon pick a dream

Work in a doctors office, maybe a medical asst ( my doctor could sure use a new person to draw blood, the one he has is not that good, I felt like a pin cushion this week.

A dog and cat groomer, artist and so on.

The skys the limit

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Thanks Chuck.

I was tossing the idea of phlebotomy around, but I'm not sure it's something I really want to do, or if there are a lot of jobs available in that field, at least where I live.

If I could reach for the stars I'd be doing woodworking, or writing. Just haven't figured out how to make money doing either. ;)

If I were you, I'd do the woodworking/building of things. Think of several categories to start with (birdhouses, jewelry boxes, recipe boxes) and set up a web site to sell them. Make an account with Paypal and get your shipping info figured out. Here's a cottage industry making hats that has taken off like crazy --

Winter Hats Kids Fleece Girls Summer Sun Hats Fleece Socks Boys Fishing.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

If I were you, I'd do the woodworking/building of things. Think of several categories to start with (birdhouses, jewelry boxes, recipe boxes) and set up a web site to sell them. Make an account with Paypal and get your shipping info figured out. Here's a cottage industry making hats that has taken off like crazy --

Winter Hats Kids Fleece Girls Summer Sun Hats Fleece Socks Boys Fishing.

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I love that idea. The only issue with selling things online is making your site visible. Even AMHD, with it's computer pros, is having a problem with that, because of the new Google.

I'm by far a computer pro.

I have a friend that set up a site. Great site. He's had 3 visitors. He was one, I was the other, and the last, who knows? He started the site 3 years ago. :(