Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
With the U.S. unemployment rate at 9.1 percent as of July 31 and a fragile economic recovery underway, many workers feel they are left with no choice but to take their careers into their own hands.
Employees are bidding farewell to corporate America in the hope of finding a more secure, or at least fulfilling, future. They are reinventing themselves by starting their own companies or by pursuing long-put-off dreams that include creative or charitable endeavors.
While it might seem like a bold move, countless workers believe the abundance of uncertainty in today's job market mitigates the fear factor.
When self-proclaimed "cubicle monkey" Charlie Avallone, a technical writer in the investment field, realized his superior was planning to stick around for at least another 20 years, the 37-year-old from Los Angeles felt he was running out of options.
Underwhelmed by his lateral move choices and faced with a shortage of other opportunities in the marketplace, Avallone decided to opt out. Taking a home equity loan to cover health care and day-to-day living expenses, Avallone started his own consulting business.
Avallone says it was very satisfying to leave his job and support himself and be able to think that he was my own boss.
In a challenging economy, the freelancer took on as many assignments as he could handle, often not knowing where his next job would come from. After a three-year time out, Avallone was able to re-enter the corporate world at a level above the one he left.
He said it was a leap of faith, but for him it worked out. He added that it's great knowing that if he had to do it on his own again, he could.
In Search of Balance
Michelle Lawton, who spent two decades in a successful career in branding and marketing, left it all behind to start her own business, Joyful Plate, seeking to strike a better sense of balance in her life.
Lawton decided to use her savings to invest in herself. She said she was at a point in her life where she was looking for a real shift, and realized she had a life opportunity. She had a strong network, and she will be 44 this year. This is the time. She wanted to somehow give herself a portal to use her talents to do something that she is really passionate about. But also, from a strategic standpoint, she wanted to figure out an infrastructure that would allow her to pave her own way moving forward.
Lawton notes when she was in the corporate world working for companies like Procter & Gamble Pepperidge Farm, Lavazza Coffee and Remy Cointreau, she was compensated very well but still not nearly enough considering the hours she was putting in.
She added that it's so hard to find a happy medium, and the stress level is so high, you indulge in unhealthy ways to compensate, emotionally treating yourself, whether it's overeating or overdrinking or overspending.
As her own boss, Lawton makes time for things she never could during her years in the business world, such as lunchtime yoga and pilates classes.
She said it's something she can't quantify, and she has never been healthier. What she is not gaining in financial rewards, she has gained in personal well-being. It sounds like a cliché, but it's a trade-off.
Dr. Kevin Brennan, a New York City-based psychologist who concentrates on helping young professionals, said the pressures of choosing the right career and the right time to follow one's passions are the centerpiece of his practice.
He said this generation's parents said we could do anything we want, just be 'happy, thus, happiness is now our only benchmark, and it is often the hardest. The previous generation of workers may have also wanted to quit and pursue their passions, but there was an overwhelming expectation to stay put, so there was less anxiety about settling with the dead-end job. Happiness was simply not their primary value, allowing them to settle and put off their passion-hunting until their responsibilities diminished, a.k.a. mid-life crisis.
Two years ago, Brennan saw 10 percent of his patients lose their jobs. The other 90 percent put economic distress on the top of their weekly dance card. Some are looking for promotions in a dry well. Everyone—except the recently unemployed—is feeling the vice tighten at work through increased hours and responsibilities due to a job market into which bosses know employees won't dare venture.
Brennan encourages those who are confused about their careers to think not only outside the box, but outside themselves.
Brennan advises that when in doubt, help others out. Ask 10 people who engage in activities that help the world if they love what they do, and nine will say 'absolutely.' If you are bright, capable and bewildered, then why not do something useful for others?
A man who knows what Brennan's talking about is 25-year-old Andrew Flavin, who specialized in corporate loan syndication. He and his wife, a recruiter for a hedge fund, turned their backs on careers bringing in over $100,000 annually to build homes for the poor in Tijuana, Mexico, with Amor Ministries. Flavin, whose father is a minister, relished the opportunity to help others ever since he began going on the mission trips with his church as a young boy.
They had worked at their jobs in New York for about two years when they felt it was time to actually do something that mattered to them for 40-plus hours each week. He said that making 70 percent less money made them rearrange their life and the decisions they make, but he would argue those were rearrangements that were long overdue.
They had to give up weekly sushi. No more cable TV. They couldn't be constantly buying new clothes and shoes, and they actually had to live with a budget. But what was the alternative, to keep living life comfortably yet without passion and with terrible flaws in their priorities?
For those thinking about starting a new chapter, entrepreneurs offer hard-won insights from their first-hand experiences.
Get Your Finances In Order
Take a look at what you earn every month in your salary. Figure out in your business plan how you could realistically survive knowing that you may only get a third, or half of that, for a few years. Make sure you are truly ready and make sure you are not disappointing anyone else.
Both Avallone and Lawton said their decisions were easier to make because neither is married or has children.
Build a Strong Foundation
Get training or additional education to help support you in your new career. Not only will this give you credibility in your new field, but it will give you the inner confidence you need as you are getting started.
Find A Mentor
Nik Mody, who spent more than a decade climbing the corporate ladder only to leave to start the travel savings club MHNSaves.com, says to seek guidance from seasoned professionals in that niche when developing your concept. Don't think you know it all, because you don't. Form an advisory board or get personal mentors in your business. Leverage the experience of others.
Mody also recommends seeking advertising assistance, noting that in most cases entrepreneurs will face stiff competition, making branding that much more important.
Go Solo
Be prepared to be a one-man show for a while, said Lawton, who went from having ample resources to tap into on the corporate side to being completely on her own.
You might be doing everything for yourself for a while. You have to be nimble and sometimes make decisions quickly. She says to trust your gut, and to try, while you have your job, to get your concept really clear. Try early on to get a lot of the logistical stuff ready. Contracts and separate bank accounts can take up valuable time once you're trying to run your new business.
Mody concurs saying be prepared to give up free time at least in the very beginning. After all, if you are passionate about it, you will want to keep at it forever.
Be Disciplined
Lawton said she is at her desk, albeit one in her home, at 9 a.m. every morning with coffee in hand, dressed and ready to work.
Have An Exit Strategy
Know your backup plan. When all else doesn't work out, you will need to know your next chapter in life.
For those ready to roll the dice, a question to consider: Do the rewards of freedom, autonomy and the chance for personal happiness outweigh those of following the traditional path?
