Guest post by country music star Jenny Queen.
I’m a very curious gal. In truth, I’m probably just nosy. Sadly I am also an introvert and can’t just walk up to people who are doing cool stuff and ask them about their lives. In order to hack this, and also because I’m a long time podcast junkie, I started a podcast called So What Do You Do All Day. This allows me to invite interesting people on the pod, ask them about their average work day, and swing the door wide open so I can snoop at will. It’s a dream come true. Activists, Internet Security White Hats, Female Bodyguards Bosses, Kung Fu Action Stars. I have talked to the most fascinating folk, many of whom have forged their own career path.
In hearing their origin stories here are 5 lessons I have taken away:
1) LOOK FOR THE GAPS IN THE WORKFORCE – Most of my guests are action-oriented people. They have taken an entrepreneurial eye in shaping their careers. When Karen Lidbury was sidelined from her job as a massage therapist by an injury, she watched her policeman mates moonlight as security guards. She was fit and otherwise able, and eventually noticed that there were no female-only security agencies. She filled a gap in the marketplace, and 20 years later, her company, Charlie’s Angels, is a major player in the Australian Security marketplace. Similarly, EJ returned to Australia after her sojourn as cyber security expert at the Pentagon, and realised there is a gap in the marketplace for law-firm specific cyber security services. She quickly set up Wiselaw, and now sees herself as the “protecting owl in the corner of your room,” offering legal-specific services, and has branched out to a wider audience.
2) NO IS NOT AN OPTION – Something I have learned from literally every single guest I have interviewed is that NO isn’t an option. If someone closes the door on you, try the window. From the Kung Fu film star and now director, to the Save Our Sirius Activist, none of my guests accepts defeat. They simply pause, reframe, recalibrate and approach again. I am struck by how extraordinarily stubborn, in the best use of that word, my guests have been. If I had to take something away from that, I would just say, don’t give up easily. Take a breather, then try a new angle. What I might have previously seen as a failure, I am now starting to think of just as a bump in the road.
3) 9-5 IS PROBABLY LESS WORK – Denizens of cubicle farms often dream of escaping the nine to five grind, and while I understand the impulse, I think it’s important to consider that a choose- your-own-adventure career is hard work, and isn’t always very financially rewarding. Starting a business, like Victoria Spence, founder of Life Rites, a chain of wholistic and independent funeral homes, requires that you spend most of your time on your dream. This is particularly true in the case of Victoria, or in the case of someone like pastor Jon Owen, who is the CEO of the Wayside Chapel in King’s Cross. Both of these careers are akin to a calling, and require huge emotional investment and caretaking role as well. Even in the case of Rita Arrigo, the AI Designer, much of her time is spent dreaming up ways to bring the world to the different abled via Artificial Intelligence. It isn’t something she is able to switch off at the end of the day.
4) PASSION MAKES WORK FEEL LESS WORK-Y – Which brings me to my next point: the folks i have interviewed LOVE their work. They may find that they work constantly, but it is because their work brings them joy and satisfaction. It may be a cliche, but it is true, if you can find a job doing something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.
5) THE TRICK IS TO KEEP ON GIVING – This one has been this biggest surprise to me. At first, I thought it was an accident. Maybe we were just scheduling extraordinary people? But now it has emerged as a genuine theme. Every single person I have interviewed – all these lovely interesting people with fascinating career arcs – have given something back to the community. Whether it be military service, like EJ, a way for blind people to experience a nature walk, like Rita, a person to comfort and guide them in end of life care, like Victoria, a light out of domestic violence, like Karen, a non-judgemental and loving ear, like Jon. I could go on, and maybe I should. But what I am starting to suspect is that loving your work makes loving your life a lot easier. And happy people have more bandwidth to share with others. It’s pretty amazing.
If you are inspired by these ideas, then get dreaming, thinking, planning. Be prepared for hard work and long hours, but share that spark of yourself with the world. We’ll all be glad you did.
