Pursuing Your Passion: Don't Quit Your Day Job

Last week I had the privilege of sitting down with a lady who reached out to me on Facebook wanting to know what it is that I do. She and I aren’t total strangers, as we used to work together in the 90’s and thanks to Facebook we were able to reconnect. I’ll call her Lisa to protect her privacy.

Lisa’s email stated, “I want to start a business…I know I’ll be good at it…I just don’t know what I want to do.”

At our lunch meeting we did some preliminary brainstorming and it turned out not only was she good at several different things, she also enjoyed all of them – everything from crafts to event planning. After we talked more she shared that she had taken an interior design class but didn’t like the fact she had to learn so much about design history.

This lead to an in depth discussion of her telling me how she’d sold her house in two weeks (others have told her she would be a great real estate agent). When I asked her how she got her house sold so fast she immediately responded, “I know it was because I staged it. People don’t realize the importance of decluttering and taking out personal stuff when trying to sell their home.” She went on to tell me about all the positive feedback she’d gotten from realtors as well.

Ah ha! Now we’re on to something!

I asked more questions and she answered enthusiastically – home décor was definitely high on her list of passions.

I advised her to start researching home staging training and certification. No – I didn’t tell her to go back to work and turn in her resignation and announce to her husband that she was starting a business!

Lisa already had her first client and didn’t even realize it. When she sold her house so quickly one of her coworkers who is about to put her house on the market wanted to get some pointers. I told her to go back to work and let her coworker know she wanted to work with her on staging her home. The coworker was thrilled that she’d offered…they’ll be getting the house ready this summer.

This project will give Lisa valuable hands-on experience. I told her to treat it like she was already in business for herself.

I have no doubts that Lisa will do an exceptional job. She’s in a position that others who want to test the entrepreneurial waters can take advantage of. Keep the security of your full-time job while you go through the discovery phase of finding and figuring out how to monetize your hobbies and interests.

Lisa already has a job. She’s now on the path to creating her own opportunities.

 

Photo credit: lovesteph83