by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

Do you fantasize about leaving the rat race to pursue a passion? Andrea Beaman’s story might provide some inspiration. Andrea went from cubicle to national TV after she decided to follow her dream.

 Career Makeover: Andrea Beaman

Former Occupation: Executive Assistant

Current Occupation(s): Natural nutritionist, chef, reality TV star. Andrea has a thriving nutritionist practice and is appearing on Bravo’s new reality show "Top Chef." Her TV exposure has led to other opportunities — including a recent appearance as a guest nutrition expert on "The View."

Andrea’s Story:

Andrea had a corporate day job that many would envy. She was an executive assistant to a big shot at MTV. That meant attending a lot of cool parties with rock stars and flying around the country with her boss. Andrea didn’t mind her job, but there was something missing.

Her perspective changed after she was diagnosed with thyroid disease. She immersed herself in the study of nutrition to find a way to heal herself. After radically changing her diet, Andrea regained her energy and conquered her thyroid problem. Then she took a look around and decided that it was time to make some career changes as well. She realized that her true calling was in teaching people about the dramatic benefits of healthy eating.

"At my old job, I felt completely empty at the end of the day," Andrea says. "I felt like I did nothing of any consequence in the world. I had no passion."

She was afraid to trade in a secure position for a new career she knew little about, but a little voice kept nagging her that the time had come. Eventually, Andrea summoned up the courage to make the leap.

"The more I focused my energy on what I loved, the more opportunities opened up," Andrea says.

She studied nutrition and built a thriving business as a nutritionist, author, and healthy chef. There were some lean months and some sleepless nights along the way. But Andrea persevered and is now living the life she’s always dreamed about. She has shared her healthy eating philosophies with millions of TV viewers and spends her days doing what she loves.

Andrea’s Advice:

"Find  something that you love to do and then go toward it with wild abandon and always be open."

Visit Andrea’s site at http://www.andreabeaman.com

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by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

An interesting article by Adam Sternbergh in the April 3 issue of New York magazine looks at the grup generation, people in their 30s and 40s who are redefining the concept of adulthood. The term "grups" was inspired by a Star Trek episode featuring a planet ruled by children.

Grups are adults who don’t want to grow up, get serious, or settle down. Grups love hipster clothes and cutting-edge bands — they also have a much different idea of career success than previous generations did.

"The Grup does not want a corner office. The Grup does not want a fancy title," Sternbergh writes. "For a Grup, success isn’t about how many employees you have but how much freedom you have to walk, or boogie-board away."

The article goes on to clarify — it’s not that Grups are lazy, they just don’t want to work for other people doing things that they’re not passionate about. The Grups are all about passion and about being excited about what they do every day. Sternbergh ties it back to the fact that so many Grups watched their parents give their all to companies that had no problem brutally laying them off when times got tight.

Other surveys back up this idea. In a recent Money magazine poll, 54 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t want their boss’s job no matter how much money you paid them.

So if today’s best and brightest are turning their backs on the old system, what does the future hold? To stay competitive, smart companies will have to find ways to offer employees work that is more flexible, more fulfilling, and more meaningful. 

Popularity: 2%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

Are you tired of spending the prime of your life in a cubicle? You’re not alone. Recent studies show that between 50% and 75% of white-collar workers hate their jobs. Not all corporate jobs suck. But the truth is that the old corporate job model is clearly not working for today’s employees. Generation X and Y care more about balance and making a difference than they do about climbing the corporate ladder.

This blog is meant to be a resource for disgruntled corporate prisoners who are looking to make a change. If you’re burnt out on your corporate gig, we can help. The good news is that the job market is changing and there are a lot of other options out there for people who don’t fit into the corporate mold. Start your own business, go freelance, go part-time, take a sabbatical,  or find a job at a company that doesn’t subscribe to the standard bureaucratic corporate vision (there are more and more jobs like this out there!).

I learned a lot while making the transition from corporate VP to entrepreneur. I talked to dozens of successful corporate types that had either made a major career change or were dreaming of making one.

It can be scary to walk away from a seemingly stable job (but let’s face it, no corporate job is truly stable as the layoff-palooza of the last few years has shown us). However, a lot of people have found a way to do it and ended up finding much more fulfilling work (and without going bankrupt)

This blog will feature their stories along with lots of tips, stats, and resources for people trying to climb out of the corporate trenches. If you’ve got a story to tell, or an issue to raise, I’d love to hear from you!

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