Ellen Romans of Rosebud mounds fresh fruit on her kitchen countertops while dozens of canning jars brew in the nearby sterilizer. Yes, it's hot work, but she's in pectin heaven.
Tricia Richner of Moffat snip-snips her way to artistic nirvana and a newfound career that gives her flexibility for her four children and husband.
They each are stepping out from their established careers, zealously pushing their avocations into the forefront and following their bliss, fulfilling their dreams and redefining themselves in fresh careers.
Scary? You bet. Rewarding? Mostly. Regrets? None so far. A lot of work? Of course, but it doesn't seem like it when you love what you're doing.
Wing it!
Making the move into the clouds was "a very scary monster," said Caddell. Freshly minted with a degree in economics and finance, Caddell first worked for a car dealership, then migrated to a Temple stockbrokerage for three years.
A licensed pilot, he was always lured into the air on his off time from the firm. He bought his first plane on ebay for $18,000 so he could log enough hours to gain a commercial license. Then he sold the plane for what he paid for it. He formed a partnership with a fellow flight aficionado, and they bought a bigger plane. Eventually he earned credentials to fly jets.
Then, in November 2006, he was offered a job with a San Antonio flight service that transported patients between hospitals. The San Antonio job would fill his passion for flying - but with a pay cut.
"My income as a stockbroker wasn't bad. There's an old saying in flying that the only way to make a fortune in flying is to begin with a bigger fortune. I had a huge, dramatic pay cut. I would have to move to San Antonio. My wife was teaching in Killeen. We had a mortgage and a baby. The new job meant I'd have to be away from my family."
Caddell decided to juggle the job in San Antonio and back home in Belton for six months, when he was offered a jet pilot position in May 2007 with JF Air Traffic Inc., part of Fikes Wholesale back in Temple.
Looking back on the past two years, he's happy he leaped into thin air from his comfortable job. "I found my niche. I'm working for really fine people. I enjoy what I do. I am also a flight instructor, and I enjoy helping people learn to fly," Caddell said.
Can it!
A Scott & White registered nurse, Romans is slow-cooking a new direction in her life one jar at a time. "I grew up in Rosebud, but as a kid I spent summers with my aunt in Cameron. I learned canning and jelly-making from her. We'd make jellies, jams and different relishes from what we grew in the garden. My grandparents owned a hotel in Cameron, and I always dreamed of owning a bed-and-breakfast tied to my jams and jellies," she said.
Balancing her nursing career and family obligations overwhelmed what free time she had. But a few years ago, the lure of those jars and rings got to her.
"I started canning fruits when they were fresh and in season. Then I started giving jars out as Christmas presents to co-workers and friends. Everybody told me I should go into business."
While a full-time nurse, she took culinary classes at Central Texas College, finding mentors who helped her ease into new career. Along the way, she created Rosebud Culinary Services, a commercial kitchen in Temple.
Still a nurse, she caters and cans on her off days. Sales are promising because she has dared to be adventuresome - watermelon and tomato jelly, peach-strawberry-chipotle jam, and tangy triple berry jelly with strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.
Yes, she's juggling two careers, but she has her eyes on the next step - working part-time in retirement and opening that bed-and-breakfast in a rural area west of Temple. She has a plan and a place.
Cut it out!
Richner on the other hand eschewed spoons for scissors. When she and her family moved here from South Bend, Ind., she wanted to parlay her marketing and communication expertise, artistic flair and degrees in anthropology and health while being a full-time mother to four.
She considered scrapbooking but was drawn to the varieties of papers and accessories.
"One of my hobbies was card making; I'd make birth announcements, Christmas cards, and birthday party invitations for all of the children in our family," she said.
When she gave a bridal shower gift of her custom-made cards, "all the guests went crazy," she said. A hobby faded, and a business was born.
Voila! Custom-made greeting cards and invitations that customers order online through her blog, Etsy.com and Facebook.
"I do each one by hand, score the paper and assemble each piece," she said. "The design is the hard part - which colors and ribbons, accents and greetings. Once I do that first one, then I make the rest."
Where two or three gather, Richner has an appropriate - weddings, birthdays, showers, parties. Each card is hand-lettered and ready for mailing.
Add and subtract it!
Randy Garrett, executive director for the Temple Business Incubator, counsels aspiring entrepreneurs through the mine-fields of avocations to vocations.
Garrett advises some start-up business people to take it step-by-step, just like Romans and Richner have done. He said if they branch out, they need to know how it will alter their lifestyles and wallets.
"People are frequently so passionate about their hobbies. Their friends and families say 'That's beautiful. Why don't you sell these?' Some people think that all they have to do is put it out there and people will buy it - whatever it is. But they haven't really thought about the time it takes to produce enough units, to figure cost per unit and the time it takes. I tell people to do the math. Approach this as a business rather than an enjoyable past-time."
Hobbyists also need to stockpile living funds while the business getting up to speed. "That's the major point. You have to have money to live on," Garrett said. For some, like Romans, retirement income can provide that economic buffer.
Remember Uncle Sam, he added. "Don't get into tax troubles. When people call me, their biggest fear is doing something wrong with taxes. That's where you really need to study and consult tax accountant get advice on income and sales taxes."
"Still, if you enjoy your hobby, you can still enjoy and make a few dollars on the side. The greater issue is turning that hobby into sole source of income."
Caddell agrees, adding that sometimes "following your bliss" is a blessing in disguise. He has no regrets, especially considering the stock market's nose dive in the past year. "I have lunch with friends in the stock brokerage firm who tell me, 'Be glad you're not in it anymore,'" he said with a laugh.
pbenoit@temple-telegram.com
