Where do I go from here?

… continued from Feb. 2

“Wow, I’m free! No more commuting, traffic, or weather to worry about.  But wait… what do I do now?  Gosh, I haven’t written a resume since before desktop computers even existed.  Resumes have probably changed a lot… oh yes, they have!” – my thoughts after losing my job of 30 years.

My career in catalog advertising ended abruptly.  I was happy, working in a creative environment, and not ready for a change… but I had no control of my career, as a pawn in the corporate world, and I did not like that.  Yes, I did all the right things; I created a new (condensed into 2 pages) resume, I attended workshops, seminars, webinars, etc. on how to find the right job in today’s tough market.  All the while I wondered… do I really want to look for a job that I may lose again?  Do I want to commute across the 4th largest city in North America?  There were no advertising jobs close to home… then it hit me.

For years, people have been asking me to help them with their decorating dilemmas.  I never thought anything of it, but began to wonder… could I do this sort of thing for a living?  I considered several home staging courses and found one that I believed would work best for me.  I was already a perfectionist, creative, had awareness for color, space, and balance.  I worked on the most challenging catalog pages (the one’s that no one else wanted, or were too afraid to take on).  As the saying goes, I could make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.  What I really needed to learn was how to manage a small business.  The rest was in my DNA.

Many stagers have previously worked in non-related fields.  Designing is all I know.  I have this God-given talent.  I can visualize a space whether it is empty or chalk-full of furniture.  In fact, many stagers will ask that most furniture be removed from the house.  Why?  Because, they cannot imagine how or where to place the existing furniture.  It’s oh so much easier to work with a blank canvas than it is to work with an existing one.  Remember… I’m the one that gravitated towards those most difficult catalog pages at work… remember?  Well, redesigning someone’s space is my new challenge and I say, bring it on!

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