What would you do if you didn't do what you did?

[Johnny Vinyl]

I spent 80% of my career in sales, sales marketing and sales merchandising within the publishing industry, custom design retail display manufacturing and retail industries. I loved them all and always awoke every day happy to go to work. The only regret I ever had was leaving Polydor Records. It sadly wasn't my choice, but that's life. I look back at it all and can say I've been blessed with never having to spend any time at something I truly disliked.

All of these jobs focused very heavily on customer interaction and satisfaction, something I excelled at and it allowed me to progress and advance through the decades of this workingman's career. It's all been very satisfying.

The other day I got to thinking about what else I could have chosen to provide me with a rewarding and successful career path. I couldn't really think of anything until my brother-in-law and sister pointed out some things and suggested I should have been a Restaurateur. Really? How so? It certainly can't be based on my cooking. They agreed (grrrr), but pointed out that one the pleasures they enjoy is my natural ability to explain a new dish and make guests comfortable and at ease when presented with something new and different. At larger gatherings they commented on my organizational skills (timing, presentation, clean-up, etc.). There's certainly much more involved, but I think it's something I would have enjoyed since they mentioned it.

So I got to thinking that with a degree in the culinary arts this may have been a good career path. Maybe next time!

[Bill Hart]

John- It may have been a while since you read the Maltese Falcon. In it, Spade tells the story of being hired to look for a man who went missing. The story, which seems like a digression, is referred to as The Flitcraft Parable. What does this have to do with your question? http://gratzindustries.blogspot.com/...t-parable.html

[Rob]

cool. I never read the book but seen the film at least three or four times and as stated the parable didn't make the cut.

[Alrainbow]

If anyone ever asked me what to do in life. My answer is find something you could deal with doing all of your life that provided enough money that you could feed you family and make all happy. My reasoning is no one could possible do a task or Run a business and enjoy it all of there life. Having said that I have met people who did feel like you do JOHN. Your a blessed person in this regard
it's not that I hated all of what I did and it fed us well.for me it was an end to justify the means. Money always came first for me in my beleaf so for me to say to someone find what you love missed the point of working. Maybe as I grew up very poor with a kind of messed up child hood it's how I seen what was needed.

[mkuller]

Nothing different - I'm living the dream. I started out as a pharmacist with a business degree. After about 10 years in pharmacy and pharmacy management I had decided I was bored so I started a pharmacy-based company. I found business more multi-faceted and challenging than pharmacy and with the combination it was a lot of fun. I'm now on my 4th company and the first one that doesn't involve pharmacy. It's a home medical equipment company and I get to help many seniors find products and solutions for their many health problems. It's almost like volunteering but I have 2 employees and we are profitable. I live 10 minutes from the store and work 3-1/2 days a week.

As to audio - after co-founding the Northern California Audio Society in 1979, I was invited to review for TAS which I did for 15 years until the magazine changed hands. At one point in 1998 between companies I looked in to opening an audio store. When I realized how slim the margins were and saw things moving toward home theater, I decided to go back into what I knew. I think the best way to ruin a hobby or something you enjoy is to make a business out of it.

I've never looked back and have no regrets.

[cpp]

Nothing different, I actually enjoyed my job, the people and the challenges. Pay was good, great pension and benefits.

[Bill Hart]

Nothing different - I'm living the dream. I started out as a pharmacist with a business degree. After about 10 years in pharmacy and pharmacy management I had decided I was bored so I started a pharmacy-based company. I found business more multi-faceted and challenging than pharmacy and with the combination it was a lot of fun. I'm now on my 4th company and the first one that doesn't involve pharmacy. It's a home medical equipment company and I get to help many seniors find products and solutions for their many health problems. It's almost like volunteering but I have 2 employees and we are profitable. I live 10 minutes from the store and work 3-1/2 days a week.

As to audio - after co-founding the Northern California Audio Society in 1979, I was invited to review for TAS which I did for 15 years until the magazine changed hands. At one point in 1998 between companies I looked in to opening an audio store. When I realized how slim the margins were and saw things moving toward home theater, I decided to go back into what I knew. I think the best way to ruin a hobby or something you enjoy is to make a business out of it.

I've never looked back and have no regrets.

Very healthy. One guy I knew (i helped him get his autobiography published) was a surgeon, who became a lawyer, who was a partner at McKinsey, who then became a communications consultant. Last time I checked, he was the Dean of the School of Business at Johns Hopkins. Change is good.

[mep]

It might be "easy" to start a business, but most businesses fail because they are under capitalized. Money is always the tough part of starting and keeping a successful business going. I think you are minimizing what it really takes to start a successful business outside of doing something at home in your spare time for pocket change.

[mkuller]

Perhaps but it depends on the business. Many are under capitalized because of too optimistic planning.

I started my first business with 2 partners and we each contributed $5000. The second I started as a joint venture with a national company and I contributed $20,000. The other 2 business were started with SBA loans. Other friends who have started bigger businesses have used venture capital or angel investors.

Many successful businesses, like HP Computers, Apple and many audio equipment companies were started in garages. Facebook, worth $148 billion today, was started in a college dorm room.

It is so much easier to start businesses in the US than in anywhere else in the world because of 3 things - our capitalistic society, easy access to capital and we follow the rule of law.

[mep]

I agree it is easy to start a business in the U.S., but unless you are starting really small and don't need much of an investment, access to low cost money is still an issue. I think it's still cheap to start up a envelope stuffing business from home though.

[MylesBAstor]

Fencing coach. I was an assistant fencing coach at Barnard College 77-78 (while training for the US Olympic Fencing team) and runner up for the Columbia U job the next year. Ended up going onto grad school in 1980 but my real love has/was/will always be fencing. Always regretted dropping out of the sport.

Small world story. Joe Kubala/Kubala-Sosna came by a couple of years ago and saw some of my fencing trophies. Turns out--Joe fenced when younger for our state rival Essex Catholic HS in NJ (and perennial,state champs)--only a couple of years before me.

A pic from my HS fencing days and year made the All State team '71-'72.

[Rob]

From the left the third guy standing.

[MylesBAstor]

Very good! My wife couldn't pick me out.

[mep]

I spotted you immediately.

[fcrowder]

Strangely enough, I have never really seriously considered doing anything else. I think that I knew from a fairly early age that I would probably end up being a lawyer. Couple a love of reading and language with an ability to write well and you are a long way toward being a lawyer. Three years of teaching ninth graders was the final impetus. In retrospect, they did teach me quite a bit about effective communication. In any event, the practice of law has afforded many opportunities to travel outside the U.S. and to participate in putting together some various complex construction projects. It also has funded a relatively comfortable lifestyle. If not the practice of law, I might have been a professional scouter but that is another story.

[Jim Smith]

I think the best way to ruin a hobby or something you enjoy is to make a business out of it.

I've never looked back and have no regrets.

I started working in my hobby in the '70s and never looked back either.

Always made it a point to work in the field that was my passion.

Downsides?

When you work in the field that you love, it often leads to long work days. If you are not attentive, it can be an issue with personal relationships. Fortunately, I married a saint - not sure anyone else would have put up with the long absences, long days, etc.

Only problem now is, what do I do for retirement?

[mkuller]

Jim, unless you're working at it full time, you're already semi-retired. :-)

[Rob]

If I distill what I do into one word, its sales. It wasn't my dream job but I've adapted just fine, now that I'm past the half century mark in age its not likely that will change. It goes without saying follow your passion and the money aspect will work itself out, my problem is having equal interest in a multitude of endeavors. if I never had to think about a paycheck again I would've been a serial entrepreneur.

[mep]

If I distill what I do into one word, its sales. It wasn't my dream job but I've adapted just fine, now that I'm past the half century mark in age its not likely that will change. It goes without saying follow your passion and the money aspect will work itself out, my problem is having equal interest in a multitude of endeavors. if I never had to think about a paycheck again I would've been a serial entrepreneur.

What if your passion was to be the fry boy at McDonalds?

[Rob]

the world needs Indians as much or more than Indian chiefs. most want to be an Indian chief but few have what it takes or the capacity to be one.
another thing, in-n-out burger joints pay their managers 100k+ they all start off as "fry boys"

[cpp]

What if your passion was to be the fry boy at McDonalds?

I guess for some, that fry boy position would be awesome. I guess someone out there likes the smell of canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), citric acid, and dimethylpolysiloxane in the morning . Yes that is what Micky D's fries their fries in. .

[mep]

Use to have beef tallow in there too before the food Nazis jumped their ass.

[MylesBAstor]

My buddy was a McDonald's All American French Fry boy when in HS!

[Bruce B]

I'm living the dream now. I get paid for both of my hobbies ... music and motorcycles.

I raced professionally when I was young and dumb and was District 7 Champion Flat-track racer in 78-79. I may have gone in that direction if life/family hadn't been the priority.

[EdAInWestOC]

I would have done what I originally wanted to do and study psychopharmacology. Maybe go into research full-time and focus on the inner workings of the human mind. Working in computers and security is interesting but people really don't want security, they want convenience. Those two don't co-exist and it makes for some long days.

[Kingrex]

I would not have minded being a Trust Fund Baby!!!!!!!

[EdAInWestOC]

That would not be bad at all...I would spend the rest of my life floating around the world on a luxury yacht with a serious sound system.