Issue 217

October 15, 2009

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ChangingCourse.com since 1995 dedicated to helping people like you to:

~Live Life on Purpose ~Work at What You Love ~Follow Your Own Road

Inside Today's Issue

Opportunity Knocks

Want to Make a Change? Be Curious

Featured Resource

Making Dreams Happen

Guest Article

All This Talk About Age...

This ad-free bimonthly newsletter is brought to you compliments of ChangingCourse.com.

I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life'.
~ Maya Angelou

Opportunity Knocks: Creative Ways to Make a Living Without A Job

Want to Make a Change? Be Curious

Valerie Young

By Valerie Young

It was a beautiful fall day when I passed through the gates for probably the 45^th time on my nearly annual pilgrimage to The Eastern States Exposition. At least that’s what it was called when I was growing up. Since then marketers have shortened it to The Big E.

The Big E is a huge state fair, except it encompasses all six New England states. This is the first year I went alone. Gratefully alone.

No negotiating with friends or family about whether to listen to the presentation on sheep shearing (I vote yes), or enjoy seeing the pride on the young people's faces as they compete for ribbons and bragging rights for their well-groomed cows (a must), or talk with the volunteer historical interpreters in the authentic village square called Storrowtown Village (that’s another yes for me!), or whether to eat the clam fritters in the Rhode Island building, the apple pie in the Vermont building, or the lobster roll in the Maine building (yes, yes, yes).

This year I got to do whatever I wanted, for as long as I wanted. And what I love best is being curious.

I actually didn’t plan to turn my trip to the Big E into a newsletter writing assignment. But with so many interesting entrepreneurs and lifestyles all around me, I couldn't help myself. Here’s what I learned, and how my curiosity can help you to change course.

Don’t Be Sheepish

I spent a lot of time chatting with retired Navy Captain turned merino sheep rancher Tom Colyer of Greenwood Hill Farm in Hubbardston, Massachusetts.

• I learned that… 80 percent of the lamb that is sold (and therefore eaten) in the United States happens along the eastern seaboard states from Washington, DC north to New England. What that tells me is that, unless you are a vegetarian, there is an opportunity to creatively work with the various state sheep councils to encourage chefs in other parts of the country to put lamb on the menu.

• I learned… you can dye wool with Kool-Aid (you can get a FREE GUIDE TO DYING WOOL WITH KOOL-AID just for stopping by the Greenwood Hill Farm site).

• I learned that… it’s a lot more profitable for people who raise sheep to spin and sell their own yarn than to sell the wool in bulk.

• I also learned there is a demand for sheep shearers to service smaller farm operations like Greenwood. Time magazine even did an article last February on the effort to train more shearers. And, according to Tom, some of the best shearers are women.

Lesson: It is amazing what you can find out if you just talk to people. What would you want to ask Tom that I didn’t?

The “Crazy Tomato Lady”

In the Connecticut building I met an exhibitor named Marybeth Draghi from Little Acres farm in Glastonbury, CT. Marybeth’s delicious heirloom tomatoes have earned her the title of “Crazy Tomato Lady.”

She’s grown her business from a small stand to selling her tomatoes at three Whole Foods stores (two in West Hartford and one in Glastonbury), at the famous Stew Leonard's chain in Connecticut and New York, and has more chains and outlets in the works.

Are you curious how Marybeth landed these major accounts? I was. Are you ready? She asked, and the store manager said yes.

Lesson: Speak up. Ask questions. Talk to people about what you do… or hope to do. The door to opportunity opens when you open your mouth. What would you want to ask Marybeth that I didn’t? 

Cleaning Up in the Soap Business  

From the Blue Heron Soap booth, I learned that, like a lot of businesses, this one was born out of necessity. Owner Peggy Manthei’s daughter had sensitive skin. Her search for a solution led to tinkering with her own soaps and years later Peggy and husband Carl continue to make all the soaps personally.

Money questions can be a little more delicate but my curiosity got the best of me. “Is it really profitable to truck all this soap from Minnesota for a 3-week fair in Massachusetts?” I asked. The young man grinned from ear to ear and said simply, “We get $6 a bar.” Enough said. 

Obviously the fair circuit is an effective marketing strategy. According to the show schedule on their web site, this year alone they’ll be in North Carolina, Chicago, Tennessee, South Dakota, and elsewhere.

Lesson: When you think about marketing your product or service, do a cost-benefit analysis. If your marketing investment is $1,000 but you have the chance to make $2,000, then you’re ahead of the game. What would you ask the people at Blue Heron Soap that I didn’t?

Doggedly Pursuing a Passion

From the young man at the Annie’s Pooch Pops All Natural Dog Treats booth, I learned that a business you might assume to be local and/or online exclusively actually has quite a mobile marketing strategy. Between Annie, her son, or her son’s friend, they sell at over 200 of these kinds of fairs and shows a year!

But it was from Annie’s website that I got the bigger story. Like most businesses, this one started small and grew. In the beginning, all the baking happened in Annie’s kitchen. For a while they rented a restaurant kitchen during off hours. “Cooking from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. wasn’t easy,” says Annie, “but the crew, with additional help from friends, began to see treat sales take off. After six months and no sleep, we moved into a converted 4000 square foot barn in Northern New Jersey horse country where we remain today.”

Lesson: Starting any business requires sacrifice and hard work. Period. Ask yourself. “What do I love enough to work that hard to grow?” What would you want to ask Annie and her team that I didn’t?

Finding the Unexpected

There were also a few surprises at the Big E. For example, also in the Connecticut building was a guy selling something you would not normally expect among the alpaca socks and maple syrup vendors. But there was Kirk Sinclair alongside a stack of his books, Systems Out of Balance: How Misinformation Hurts the Middle Class.

According to his business card, Kirk is a “Middle Class Advocate, Social Systems Analyst, and Rabble Rousing Bard.” He’s also the token middle-aged guy in a rock band that plays at local colleges. I have not read Kirk’s book (but plan to), but after I met him, I recalled that last year I bought a book at the same fair from a woman who’d traced the history of her Native American grandmother.

Lesson: Being an entrepreneur means sometimes showing up in surprising places. Where can you show up? What about offering piano lessons at the farmer’s market or negotiating with a local clothing or paint store to conduct a puppy training demonstration at a well-blocked-off section of their parking lot?

Perseverance Pays

The great thing about visiting the same booths year after year is you get to see what’s changed. The fact that a vendor is back itself tells you the investment in time and money was worthwhile.

Case in point, last year I helped myself to a free sample of Kathie Rosenschein’s SuperSeedz Pumpkin Seeds (yum!). My family was not as keen about my curious mind, but I managed to chat long enough to find out that this mother of five’s business was starting to take off.

When I went back this year I discovered Kathie had started selling her gourmet pumpkin seeds on QVC! If you place an order, I highly recommend the curry flavor. Even if you don’t buy, check out Kathie’s first stint on national television talking about her product on QVC.

In a past life, I delivered a few seminars at QVC headquarters in Pennsylvania and got to talk to the product evaluators. What I learned was that it’s not that hard for even small business owners like Kathie – or you – to get a product on their network or on the Shopping Network.

Lesson: Stick with it and great things can happen; and never assume you’re too small.

After Curiosity Comes Action

Have you ever been curious about what it would be like to sit down with one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time… a living legend?

I am. So, as a select few of you already know, a few days ago I plunked down 5 figures (gulp!) to grab one of only 10 spots in a private brainstorming session with Sir Richard Branson! Yes, THAT Sir Richard Branson – the billionaire founder of Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines, and numerous other Virgin enterprises.

Why would I spend such an outrageous sum of money simply to satisfy my curiosity? Good question, since money alone does not impress me. If it were Donald Trump, as interesting as that would be, at that price, I’d pass.

What DOES impress me is that, like me, Richard Branson is a passionate social entrepreneur. Not only will I get to pick the brain of one of the most brilliant entrepreneurs on the planet, but my entire $10k will go to support not one, but two amazing organizations.

The Eve Branson Foundation seeks to improve the lives of women and girls in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco by providing the tools they need to create marketable goods – and thus become economically self-sufficient.

Her organization is part of Virgin Unite which harnesses global resources and entrepreneurial energy so that business becomes a force for good. What I especially love about this organization is the emphasis addressing both social and environmental problems and on helping disadvantaged youth to develop and launch businesses.

I plan to pick his brain about how best to bring the message of turning passions into profits to a larger, potentially global audience. The time is so ripe for this message of hope.

A few hours after the brainstorming session I’ll be heading to the annual Rock the Kazba fundraising gala. For some cool videos of last year’s big gala click here.

It’s been decades since Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel traveled the country conducting interviews for his book Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. Among them was a woman named Nora Watson who said, “I think most of us are looking for a calling, not a job. Most of us, like the assembly line worker, have jobs that are too small for our spirit.”

I think the same can be said for dreams. Most people have dreams that are too small for their spirit. Your dreams need to be as big and as powerful as you are. That means learning to think bigger about your work, your life, and your gifts. Simply said, I want you to want more both for yourself and for all those you touch.

You and I are on the cusp of an incredibly exciting movement!

It’s a movement where job placement and career counselors are starting to understand that the old ways aren’t working. It’s no longer enough to push people into accounting or engineering or pharmaceutical sales. People today want more. They want to find ways to turn their passion for cooking or sports or travel or art or healthy living into a viable way to make a living via a small business.

Richard Branson has plans to reach out to disadvantaged youth in the United States. So I’m thinking there may just be a way for the people who have gone through my Outside the Box/Passions into Profits Training Program to get involved somehow.

Plus, when I reach out for corporate sponsorship and begin to license this training program to university career centers, how cool will it be to say, “Well, when I was chatting with Richard Branson about this idea…”

To be perfectly clear, I have no idea what’s going to happen when I meet Sir Richard Branson. After all, I haven’t even met the man! But hey, an hour earlier I was making a poached egg. Suddenly I’m booking airfare to LA to meet with a billionaire social entrepreneur!

You never know what can happen when you are curious, when you dream big, and when you honor your dreams with action.

On a more serious note, while there's no connection to Branson’s organization, Lisa passed along this inspiring story of a desperately poor 14 year boy from Malawi whose curious mind led him to figure out how to build a windmill from trash. William Kamkwamba did not speak or read English. Instead, he relied on the pictures in library book to guide him.

Being curious will change your world. As young William reminds us, being curious can change the world for the better as well.

In the next 24 hours, I challenge you ask at least one small business owner at least one question. Then post your question (and the answer) at the Changing Course blog so we can all grow from your curiosity!

P.S. Have questions for Valerie about the NEW “Passions into Profits” Coach Training coming up soon? Email them to info@ChangingCourse.com.

Add Your Two Cents

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About the Author

"Turning Interests Into Income" expert, Valerie Young, abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at ChangingCourse.com offering resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. Her career change tips have been cited in Kiplinger's, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today Weekend, Woman's Day, and elsewhere and on-line at MSN, CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. An expert on the Impostor Syndrome, Valerie has spoken on the topic of How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are to such diverse organizations as Daimler Chrysler, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Harvard, and American Women in Radio and Television.

To read more articles about how to work at what you love without a job go to ChangingCourse.com/articles.htm

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 Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand -- and melting like a snowflake.
~ Marie Beyon Ray

Featured Resource

"To love what you do and feel that it matters,
how could anything else be more fun?" Katharine Graham

FALL 2009 REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

If You Love Brainstorming, Teaching, Coaching or Otherwise Pointing Out Interesting Ways Other
People Can Make Money Doing What They Love,
Then Please Don’t Miss This Chance For You to Get Paid To Do What Comes Naturally

• Are you forever sending articles and links to friends and acquaintances – constantly turning other people on to resources and alternatives they never knew existed?

• Do you instinctively jump in to help others brainstorm ideas?

• Do you find yourself constantly thinking up potential business ideas for yourself or other people?

If that describes you, then I bet people love talking with you…

Maybe they even seek you out. And why wouldn’t they? After all, thinking creatively about ways to make a living without a “job-job” is something that just, well… comes naturally to you I’ll bet.

It does to me, too. Now I’d like to show you how you can share in my success as well. Since launching Changing Course in 1995, I’ve heard from literally hundreds of people who would love to do what I do:

"I’ve spent much time trying to find my own calling, and I realized that what I really like to do is help other people realize their dreams.” ~ Jean

“To see someone’s eyes light up when I’ve given them a great idea, is an incredible feeling. People are so grateful when you show them that a new path really does exist.” ~ James

"I’ve been doing this kind of thing for years for free – I might as well get paid!” ~ Gretchen

So, starting in 2006, I began training people on how they too can get paid to offer “Outside of the Box” career coaching or classes. Since then I’ve shown 125 people from as far away as Singapore, Kenya, Norway, Australia, the UK, Barbados, and Kazakhstan how to launch themselves into a whole new first-time business or profitable add-on income stream.

My “Passions into Profits” Coach Training Is The First and Only Career Coach Training Program To:

• Hand you a proven blueprint with everything you need to be able to offer private coaching or workshops showing people viable ways to make money doing what they love

• Allow you to “earn while you learn.” For the first time this course comes with 16 weeks of hands-on marketing coaching so you can start to attract paying clients or workshop attendees right away.

• Network and collaborate with fellow students and graduates. Brainstorm and get support from like-minded people who are gearing their businesses around helping work-at-home moms, teens, retiring military or military spouses, retirees, recent college grads, just to name a few niche markets…

Please understand that when you register for this training, you are really signing up for the chance to finally realize your dream of working when, where, and how you want. As long as you have a computer, a phone, and a pad and pen, you can operate your business from virtually anywhere in the world.

You’re also getting a built-in “tribe” of people who “get you” and your dream and who are eager to support you and help you succeed.

Plus individualized marketing and business launch coaching from a 6-figure coach and marketing expert – and her entire marketing team.

As importantly, you will gain the deep satisfaction of knowing that the work you do matters... And that is truly priceless.

And if all this weren’t enough, the work you will be training to do – to brainstorm all of the delightful and interesting ways there are for your clients to turn the things they love to do into income – is energizing and fun!

Please understand too that this is a complete coach training and business jumpstart system.* There is no other comparable marketing coach program out there that will prepare you to start generating income faster. And there is no training at all on how to coach people on turning their passions into profits anywhere – at any price.

*If you work at a career center or you already have a successful coaching practice with a solid client generating strategy or otherwise do not need additional coaching and tools for building a profitable and sustainable business model and you wish to purchase the “Passions into Profits” Coach Training Program separately from the 16-week marketing program (or visa versa), call 800-267-6388 eastern time or send an email to info@changingcourse.com with SPECIAL PRICING in the subject line. 

For those just starting out, quite simply, I have covered all of the bases to create a complete soup-to-nuts program to smooth the way for your success…

But don’t take my word for it. Listen to what people in the program had to say…

Seats Are Limited

Due to the hands-on, personalized coaching that’s included in this program, we can only accept a limited number of new people for the Fall 2009 training.

Bonus Coupon: Plus just a few hours ago I held an Invitation-Only Income Acceleration Tele-seminar. We gave the over 60 people on that call a 2 hour jumpstart to take advantage of a limited number of special savings coupons for an additional $200 off the already discounted registration price.

Now, while they last, I’m able to offer this same discount to you.

For the complete “Passions into Profit” Coach Training Program description go to www.ChangingCourse.com/passionsintoprofits.htm

• Then to save an additional $200 off the pay-in-full option,
  enter coupon code: 200 

• To save an additional $200 off the convenient installment payment option,
  enter code: SAVE

Note: You MUST enter the coupon codes to receive this limited time savings.

“For the first time in the human experience, we have a chance to shape our work to suit the way we want to live instead of always living to fit in with our work... We would be mad to miss the chance.” ~ Charles Handy

Concentrate on where you want to go, not on what you fear. ~ Anthony Robbins

The Changing Course Newsletter
Copyright 2009
Lisa Tarrant, Editor
Valerie Young, Publisher info@ChangingCourse.com www.ChangingCourse.com 7 Ripley Road
Montague, MA 01351

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Guest Article

All This Talk About Age. . .
Advice from 11 Mid-Life Quest Makers

By Michèle M. Meagher

I wonder how many of us let age stop us before we even start down the path toward our dreams. If you were 56 ½ years old and wanted to become a lawyer, would decide you were too old OR would you enter law school like Barbara Goodman Park did or would you? Either way, three years later you’d still be 61!  In other words, do you let age get in the way of living life on your own terms?

It almost stopped me from embarking on my own path at 55 - inspiring women to pursue their dreams in a way that my own mother and many in her generation never had the chance to do. Following my passion led me in May 2007 to launch Your Next Quest. As “Outside the Job Box” consultant, I work with women in their 40s and beyond, preparing them to embark on their own journeys, be they professional or personal.

My monthly Your Next Quest Chronicles, features women who have declared that it’s their time and their turn. I call them “Quest Makers.” For them, being in their 40s or beyond just means it’s the ripe and right time to get going! I always ask them to tell me what one essential quality they’d advise women to pack for their own journeys. If you tucked their collective tips into your backpack, you’d have the beginnings of a quest-making guidebook for all of the twists and turns encountered along the way. For example, from attorney Beverly Goodman Park that, “With humor, the challenges don’t knock you down.”

As you are about to discover, these Quest Makers have much to teach us about following a dream mid-life. For example, here’s what they had to say when I asked them…

Camille Saunders: Artist Camille Saunders Musser reconnected with her Caribbean heritage as she prepared for a solo art exhibition to celebrate turning 50. That led not only to her found Youlou Arts Foundation, a visual arts program on island of St. Vincent. From here she was profiled in Pamela Tanner Boll's documentary, Who Does She Think She Is?

Camille's Advice: “Be very focused. Be persistent. If someone says ‘no,’ try another avenue.”

Cheryl Young: Cheryl Young's quest led her to write two books and to get involved in the Rosie’s Girls program working with young girls so that they can become pilots of their own lives.  

Cheryl's Advice: “Never give up.”

Tracy Colson: Tracy Colson’s volunteer work as a manatee watcher in the Crystal River, Florida area, led her to start Nature Coast Kayak Tours at 44 and become actively involved in preserving Three Sisters Spring, the manatees’ winter home.

Tracy's Advice: “Have a passion for what you do and everything will fall into place.”

Jan's Advice: “Don’t leave home without confidence in our own vision.”

Louise Grasmere: Singer/songwriter Louise Grasmere recorded her first CD at 44 and her second, Blue Ain’t Only Blue, when she was 48.

Louise's Advice: “With one little tiny step at a time you can achieve what you want. It won’t happen overnight but your dream will happen.”

Margaret Winter: At age 55, Margaret Winter followed her hands and her interests into the world of home improvement and, serendipitously, into the world of Over the Top Fascinators.

Margaret's Advice: “Pack faith in yourself and in the dreams that you have.”

Janet Riben: At 59 Janet Riben set off to Prague to learn how to teach business English and along the way she fell in love with Italy and discovered her quest—to own a home there by the time she was 64. Her quest led her to take a teaching job in Italy and purchase her own home there.

Janet's Advice: “We need to pack curiosity and open up our minds and hearts to experience vast new worlds we never dreamed existed.”

Judith Shangold: Entrepreneur Judith Shangold wanted to experience the next chapter in her life and redirected her quest at age 60 from the professional to the personal.

Judith's Advice: “You need flexibility and a willingness to go with the flow.”

Harriet Carroll: At age 52, Harriet Carroll launched Harriet’s London Club to plan highly personalized trips to London for women travelers.

Harriet's Advice: “Spend time with people who understand the path you’re passionate about, who believe it’s the right path for you.”
 

Hilary Cooper-Kenny: From being a nurse at a maximum security prison to becoming a master weaver, Hilary Cooper-Kenny opened Crazy as a Loom at 53 and has come to find what Thoreau called “a success unexpected in common hours.”

Hilary's Advice: “Don’t leave home without courage to let change evolve at its own rate.”

Despite my mother's deep intelligence and immense talent, she never had the self-confidence to pursue her own dreams. In 2007, when I turned 55, I decided it was time to pursue mine. I wanted to help women find their own voices and follow their own passions in a way my mom never had the chance to do. It's why I launched Your Next Quest. As the newsletter enters its second year of publication, my own journey to start women on the path to their own dreams and to tell their stories along the way continues to unfold.

My Advice:  Pack resiliency so you can bounce back every time you make a course correction, along with a sense of humor. It makes every step lighter along the way!

What about you? What have you found to be essential to pack for your own quest?

About the Author

Michèle Meagher of Your Next Quest specializes in helping 40+ women who’ve decided, "Now it's my time." Working one-on-one over the phone, Michèle’s innovative “idea sparking” brainstorming sessions help launch her clients on their next quest to a life that they love. Her free monthly e-newsletter Your Next Quest Chronicles includes in depth interviews with "Quest Makers" who've achieved their dreams and offers readers Journal Sparkers^TM strategies to help them embark on their own quest for fulfillment. Learn more about the Quest Makers you met here and sign up for the Your Next Quest newsletter at YourNextQuest.com.

Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now, and do it. ~ William Durant

Learning Opportunities

Turn Your Interests Into Income Tele-Brainstorming Call with Your Host, Valerie Young

*This series is included in the Changing Course Club membership.

**100 percent of Non-Members registration fees go to the non-profit micro-grant organization TrickleUp.org

If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

The View From the Other Side

“No matter what happens on the stock market, for the highest returns, invest in yourself”

~ Il Chiostro founders Linda Mironti and Michael Mele

Resources for A Change

WowOWow.com brings together some of the most powerful and trusted women in the media world to converse with each other and their audience of well-educated boomer women. Share your own point of view with the likes of Lesley Stahl, Whoopi Goldberg, Liz Smith, Mary Wells, Peggy Noonan, Lily Tomlin, Candice Bergen and Marlo Thomas. A great example of the benefits of collaboration… Now who can you collaborate with to deliver your message? (WowOWow.com)

And on the other end of the age spectrum…

Get Your Money Right: FREE Hip-Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment for Young People put on by the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) and featuring organization co-founder by Russell Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam records, radio show host Madd Hatta, BET Veejay/actress/ song writer Alesha Renee, civil rights legend Dr. Benjamin Chavis, and others. The live event is coming up Saturday, October 17^th in Houston. But you can also download a free copy of the “Get Your Money Right” financial literacy workbook at the HSAN. A great example of securing corporate sponsorship (Walmart) to make a big dream happen… now who might sponsor you and your message? (HSAN.org)

Note: Changing Course does not accept paid advertisements from any of the resources listed here. This list is provided to expand your thinking about just how many interesting ways there are to make a living without a job!