How To Change Careers By Following Your Heart
(Hooking Up with Oprah Can't Hurt Either)
by
Ruta Fox
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Do you ever wonder what life would be like if you really, really got to do
what you love? What it would be like if you got up every day and were excited
about the work that you do and got paid nicely for it, to boot?
Well, it happened to me. I made a change of career just recently -- going
from an advertising copywriter to a jewelry designer, and I want to tell you
it can be done. I always had a passion for jewelry, but was a writer for
over 10 years. Then my back started bothering me, and I needed a
career where I did not have to sit and write all day.
I came up with the idea of the Ah Ring. A stands for Available, and h, for
happy. It's the diamond ring you buy for yourself when you're single, since
married women have bands, and engaged women have engagement rings. I started
selling rings to my friends, and then I was picked by O, Oprah's magazine to
be featured in her "O list" section. She jump-started my new career, but I
did the ground work that made it all possible.
My beautiful diamond Ah Ring has a very reasonable price, and was an instant success. I went from $0 to $1 million in sales in the first year.
Here are some steps on how to create a new career.
1. Think back a little to when you were small. What are the things that
excited you? Horses? Designing doll dresses? Baking? Most times, if you ask
successful people why they are in the business they're in, they will tell you
they were obsessed with something since they
were little children. Somehow through the years, and through the expectations of others, they ignored what gives them pleasure.
2. Make a list of all the things you like to do. Do you collect things, enjoy
working with your hands, have a knack or a talent that people keep
complimenting you on? Sometimes we don't think these things are valuable, but
they can come in handy when redefining what you want to do. Pay attention to
what people say. I never forgot when someone said to me, "mine the mother
lode"....or do what you're good at.
3. Network and do research. It's true...it's who you know, not what you
know. Contact friends and their friends. Take notes. Ask people in the same
business what worked, what flopped and why. Take classes, do the research in
your field to know the competition. Really understand why what you want to do is different.
4. Be organized. There is simply no way to be successful in business
without being organized. If this is not a skill you posses, you need to
acquire it. You will be called on to do many things in the beginning of a new
business and you must stay focused and not let the details slip away from you.
5. Be willing to really, really work hard and devote time to your new
venture. This does not mean make a phone call or two a day. It means
logging in tons of calls. This does not mean socializing at night when you
should be working on a business plan. What working hard means is doggedly
devoting the time you need to spend to achieve your goal. If you can not
honestly look yourself in the mirror and say you worked hard, it is just not
going to happen.
6. Most importantly, trust your gut. Every entrepreneur knows they must
really, really believe they can create something new. Someone told me early
on in my career that when some tells says "you can't do that," it really
means THEY can't do that.
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