The Successful Dilettante
July 20, 2006 Issue No. 2
Editor: Susan Henderson, coach@susanhenderson.com
Visit our website at: http://www.susanhenderson.com
The Successful Dilettante, published on the 5th and 20th of each month, is sent only to those who have requested it - or was forwarded to you by someone you know. I value your privacy and never share my mailing list with anyone. If to wish to Subscribe to the email version, please visit my website at: http://www.susanhenderson.com/newsletter.html
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Welcome!
A huge and hearty welcome to both old and new subscribers. Past issues of this ezine are archived on my website on the Newsletter page. Okay, well only one so far. I am continually adding new content and resources to my site and I invite you to stop by occasionally and see if there is anything interesting and helpful to you. Feedback and suggestions are sincerely appreciated.
My name is Susan Henderson and I am a career and life redesign coach serving you who are struggling to choose a career or life path that combines a multitude of interests. You are bright, curious, creative, interesting – and interested – people with a love of problem-solving, new ideas and challenges. You are tired of being referred to as flaky or told by well-meaning family and friends to “just settle down and pick one thing for cryin’ out loud.” Impossible. You are not built that way. I know because I am one of you. I recognize you. I applaud you.
Often in coaching, I assist clients to discover their top five values and why the knowledge and appreciation of those values can give such great guidance in orienting their lives and work. Some values may have traveled with them and been apparent from childhood. And some values may have become less important while a new awareness of a value that was quietly waiting in the wings comes to the forefront later in life.
An example of a continuing value in my own life is Independence. I don’t know if being the oldest of three lively children spaced closely together had anything to do with it, but it kept my mother busy as I went about my little independent ways. One day I decided I needed to go to the store, which was several blocks away with one fairly busy street to cross. About 3-4 blocks from home, a friend of my mom’s discovered this 3 yr. old jauntily strolling down the sidewalk pushing a doll carriage wearing nothing but a little skirt… and I mean nothing! You could not fence me in.
And I continued to challenge and fight for my independence my whole life. Working for myself, doing what I love is an adult example of happily honoring this value. Ironically, the value that was quietly waiting for the noise to die down and has come to the forefront is Family. And, boy do I enjoy my funny, quirky family, including pets, and extended family of friends and, yes, you!
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Featured Guest: Chris King
My featured guest, Chris King of Creative Keys, loves her "Portfolio Career." Human development specialist, artist, storyteller, trainer, consultant, model, TV announcer, mathematician, marketing manager, newspaper editor, salesperson, waitress, writer, speaker, web site designer/developer, certified fitness instructor, and mother of five are some of the careers that have filled her portfolio and given her the creative expertise and material for her presentations, stories and writing. She is a whirlwind of energy and I am happy she has agreed to share her story with us today.
Q: What are the biggest contributors to your success in your life and career?
First, it is the people I have had the great fortune of knowing over the years. My parents were always positive about my abilities, gave me lots of experiences. We traveled, visited museums, attended events, ate in great restaurants, etc. They also made me feel special and that I could accomplish anything I put my mind to. They did, however, dissuade me from my original announcement that I was planning to be an artist and storyteller. “No, we have had you tested and you are going to be a mathematician.” Which I was, and not sorry about the pursuit.
Others along the way have either encouraged or offered me new career paths For example, at one time I worked as a server in a fine restaurant. One of my guests gave me his card and I followed up. He hired me to sell a pricey goal-setting program, which changed my life. I not only set goals, I listened to tapes, joined Toastmasters to improve my presentation skills, became a professional speaker and storyteller and started writing articles for my local neighborhood newspaper, which led me to the opportunity to become a marketing manager and newspaper editor for the neighborhood’s community development corporation. I still work for them on a contract basis.
Q: When did you first realize that you prefer a career path of many interests?
Actually, I never thought of all the different interests as leading me on a career path. It always seemed natural to try new ones and stop doing the ones that I was tired of. Thinking back, my first “Portfolio Career” was in high school. I loved horses and wanted one of my own. My parents suggested I get a part-time job at the swanky stable near where we lived. So I made a deal with the manager that I would work in the office on weekends, answering the phone, taking the rental money for the stable’s horses and taking care of other business in trade for riding the horses during the week. Before I realized it, I had several fairly lucrative businesses on the side: I rode the wealthy renters’ horses during the week so they wouldn’t be too frisky on weekends (I was paid in gifts and dollars); I made special signs with the horses’ names on them for hanging outside their stalls; and, I also braided the hunters’ manes for horse shows in trade for transportation and entry to the horse shows.
Q: How did you come upon the idea of 'Portfolio Careers' ?
Being a voracious reader, about 15 year ago I came across an article in one of my business magazines about “Portfolio Careers.” The title was coined by British consultant, writer and guru, Charles Handy. “Ah! Ha!” I thought, “That’s what I do.”
There are many different kinds of “Portfolio Careers.” They may consist of several different part-time careers handled at the same time (like mine); they may be sequential where one follows another, but are still different in nature; or, they can be one fulltime career coupled with one or two part-time careers.
To learn more about what Handy and I call a “Portfolio Career,” visit my current website at http://www.PortfolioCareerSite.com where you will find out everything you would want to know about “Portfolio Careers.” I also invite you to take a self-test called The Portfolio Career Self Test - or Am I Someone Who Would Love to Have One? by visiting http://www.creativekeys.net/portfoliocareertest.htm
Q: What advice or truths can you share that will help our readers?
- Always be a professional, no matter what others may say - do not listen to the naysayers.
- Attitude is everything. It may sound trite, but “When one door closes, another opens.”
- Make sure that you love what you do - it gives you the energy to handle several different careers.
- Get rid of any career you don’t love.
- Remember, if you maintain a variety of careers, some pay more than others. I teach seven to nine fitness classes a week. My hourly rate is a great deal less than my website design and development business, but I figure I am paid in ‘health.’
- You will have time periods when you are so busy, you feel overwhelmed. Again, I remind myself that I can get through this - and I always do.
- And, have FUN!
To learn more about Chris King and subscribe to her content-rich ezine, Portfolio Potpourri, please visit her website: http://www.creativekeys.net
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© 2006 Susan Henderson, All rights reserved.
