Hear Jane Roar! » pursuing your passions

From Hobbies to Careers – 5 Ideas for Turning a Hobby Into a Successful Business

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:55:20 +0000

Many successful female entrepreneurs start with a hobby and end up with a career – they were just doing what comes naturally! Here are five examples of women who were doing what they love, and who turned their hobbies into money-making enterprises.

First, a quotation from successful businesswoman Martha Stewart:

“Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great success.”

Since your thoughts turn into reality, remember to focus on ideas that strengthen, uplift, and inspire you — and be open to new possibilities and opportunities! For help starting a homebased business, click Start and Run A Business From Home: How to Turn Your Hobby or Interest Into a Business. And, read on for five hobby ideas that became careers…

5 Female Entrepreneurs Who Turned Their Hobbies Into Into Careers

Do you already have a business idea or hobby you love? Read For Female Entrepreneurs – Martha Stewart’s 10 Rules for Starting a Business for tips.

1. More than a biker chick: a published author. Babs Ryan started the Chicago Motorcycle Meetup four years ago. ”I’m a 49-year-old woman who turned my hobby into a job, and then back into a hobby again,” she says. “I started riding motorcycles at age 21 in grad school for fun, on a trail bike riding in the desert in Arizona. I became the chief marketing officer at Kawasaki in the UK; two years ago, I started a motorcycle club in Chicago called Chicago Motorcycle Meetup. It grew to 180 members in three months. I’m still riding, but I had to hand over managing the club to someone else because my business book, America’s Corporate Brain Drain, was published and I needed more time for marketing.”

2. Leaping into the wild unknown. Tai Kuncio, founder of Absolute Adventures, Inc, says, “My business partner and I have been running Absolute Adventures, Inc for almost nine years now. We started the business because we both love being active in the outdoors and wanted to take that passion and turn it into a way of making a living. Our company offers fun outdoor events on the weekends, ranging from kayaking to hiking to sky diving. We actually get paid to do all the fun things we’d be doing anyway! We also offer a wide variety of unique team building events to corporations all over Northern California, ranging from high-tech scavenger hunts to sailing regattas to culinary events.”

3. “Wining” her way to success – and writing a book. ”I turned my love of unwinding with a great glass of wine into a career,” says The Wine Coach® Laurie Forster. “With the help of my life coach, I left the corporate world years ago in search of a career that I could be passionate about. Now as The Wine Coach®, I blend my training as a professional sommelier with my experience as a life coach to help people connect to wine, each other, and the things that bring them joy. I wrote my first book, The Sipping Point: A Crash Course in Wine.”

4. Making jewelry out of science. Raven Hanna, PhD, started Made With Molecules. She says, “My hobby has become my career – and now I need a new hobby! Working as a scientist and science communicator, I was always making crafts on the side. After many comments from friends and strangers that I should sell my serotonin necklace and other molecule-inspired jewelry, I started Made With Molecules. I never imagined that it would be so successful. It’s now my full time job, and I love it!” Marrying science and artistic creation is a great hobby idea that can become a successful business – if you have an open mind.

5. Greening the baby’s food. Connie Pope, co-owner of Jack’s Harvest, explains how she became a female entrepreneur: “My good friend Heather Schoenrock loves to cook and has always made organic baby food for her children. She had her third child, son Jack, around the same time I had my second son, Avery. I don’t even like to cook dinner so I wasn’t making my own baby food, but I wanted Avery to have the healthiest food possible. Since Heather was already making her amazing food for Jack, I offered to pay her to make Avery’s food too. One thing lead to another and three years ago we launched Jack’s Harvest!”

For more ideas, read Turning Hobbies Into Homebased Businesses – Stories From Female Entrepreneurs.

Do you have a hobby you love — and can you see yourself making money from it? I welcome your comments below!

Finding the Motivation to Do What You Love – Julia Cameron

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:21:24 +0000

The life lesson: even if you love to write, paint, dance, or learn – it’s still a struggle to find the time, energy, and motivation to do what you love! The successful woman: Julia Cameron.

Cameron wrote this funky little book called How to Avoid Making Art (or Anything Else You Enjoy).

It’s a quick read, with drawings that illustrate her point that there are millions of things we do instead of chasing our dreams. The illustrations represent all the stuff we do when we know better, when we should be doing what we love. It’s stuff that steals our energy, time, and life…and our dreams.

I’ve taken Julia Cameron’s tongue-in-cheek advice for avoiding doing you love, and turned each statement around. It’s now motivation to do what you love, my friends!

Finding the Motivation to Do What You Love – Julia Cameron

“Be available to everyone at any time. Do not nurture yourself or set boundaries.” Finding the motivation to do what you love means you have to take care of you. It’ll be hard to do at first – for both you and your people – but once you all get used to it, you’re on your way!

“Acquire a high maintenance relationship.” By this, I think Julia Cameron means hooking up with a partner or friend who needs your constant attention. Some people need more time and energy than others (high maintenance!), if you invite such people into your life, you’re stealing your own time and energy.

“Talk about it so you don’t have to do it.” Finding the motivation to do what you love means stop talking about your longing to be a doctor or writer or mother. Start taking action steps towards small, specific goals.

“Surround yourself with jealous, blocked, negative companions.” Oh man. Julia Cameron must have personal experience with “friends” like this. To find the motivation to do what you love, surround yourself with creative, inspirational people who support, love, and encourage you.

“Let others’ problems become your problems so that your time and energy are depleted.” Instead of taking on other people’s problems and expectations, let them work out their own stuff. That’ll give you the time, energy, and motivation to do you love. Read Letting Go of Other People’s Expectations – Maria Shriver for help letting go!

“If your pets aren’t high maintenance enough, get more of them to take up any extra free time or money you might have.” To find the motivation to do what you love, draw the line at high-maintenance pets (just like high-maintenance friends). Simplify your life, and focus on where you really want to go.

“Tell yourself you can’t afford art supplies. Buy five expensive cappuccinos while you discuss this with friends.” Ha ha ha, Julia Cameron. It’s funny because it’s true! Where do you spend your money? Are you losing the motivation to do what you love because you’re buying too many shoes or hats or cappuccinos? Budget your money so you have the resources to do what you love.

You know when you’re letting life, friends, kids, work, or tv drain your time and energy. You know when you’re not acting in your own best interests, or when you’re ignoring your gut instincts, or when you’ve lost the motivation to do what you love.

You know when you’re wasting your life.

Get to it, my friends. Find your way back to your artist’s easel, school, exercise routine, travel adventures, or writing project.

Get back to your life.

And if you’re not ready to get back to your life yet, read How to Motivate Yourself – Amelia Earhart!

What are your thoughts on these finding the motivation to do what you love? I welcome your comments below!

Succeeding by Taking Risks – Amelia Earhart

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:31:16 +0000

The life lesson: to succeed, you have to take risks. The successful woman in history: Amelia Earhart. Here’s how Earhart succeeded by taking risks…and how her experience applies to your life!

“…I believe that little red airplane said something to me as it swished by,” said Earhart – but even though she loved planes, she couldn’t “just” fly.

Earhart had to work hard to earn money to pay for flight lessons, planes, fuel, contest entry fees, navigators, and so on…and she earned her money by taking risks. These risks helped her succeed and increased her self-confidence. Here’s what Earhart did - and why taking risks helps women succeed.

To learn more about successful women, click on More Than 85 Broads: Women Making Career Choices, Taking Risks, and Defining Success- On Their Own Terms.

Succeeding by Taking Risks – Amelia Earhart

To pay for her flight lessons, Earhart drove a truck, hauled gravel, and worked at the telephone company. After she bought her first plane and in between flights, she taught English to immigrant factory workers and became a social worker.

Earhart reluctantly married publishing magnate George Palmer Putnam in 1931 – this was a risk that helped her succeed! She wrote him a letter stating that marrying him was “as foolish as anything I could do” (this, from a woman who flew alone over vast oceans through fog, rain, and darkness at 10,000 feet, inhaling gas fumes, barely eating or sleeping). After the wedding she insisted on keeping her full name – “Miss Amelia Earhart” – for business and writing purposes.

Putnam called himself “Mr. Earhart.”

Amelia Earhart’s Jobs

She definitely wasn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty. Her jobs included:

Gravel truck driver
Photographer
Nurse’s aid in WWI
Teacher
Telephone company clerk
Pre-med student at Columbia University
Social worker
Aviation editor for Cosmo magazine
Career counselor for female college students
Book author (20 Hrs., 40 Min. in 1928 and For the Fun of It in 1932)
Fashion designer
Lecturer (her principal source of income)
Creator of and investor in National Airways, a commercial airline
Endorser of products such as Kodak film, airplanes, gasoline and oil products, etc.

Earhart lectured about flying and wrote many articles and essays for magazines, as well as two books: 20 Hrs., 40 Min. in 1928 and For the Fun of It in 1932. Earhart was the aviation editor for Cosmo magazine and a career counselor for women students.

The “succeeding by taking risks” life lesson: Each job that Earhart took was a risk. She didn’t know if she’d be good at it (or even like it!), if the money was worth it, or if she’d lose her job within weeks or months. Earhart didn’t know how long she’d stay in that position, or what it would lead to. But she took risks anyway…and it worked.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin.

Have you succeeding by taking risks? Are you afraid of risk – and yet also afraid of remaining “tight in the bud”? For help overcoming fear, read Overcoming Fear – Suze Orman and Cher.

For more info about Amelia Earhart, visit the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum.

How to Motivate Yourself – Amelia Earhart

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:51:39 +0000

The life lesson: to succeed at anything, you need to know how to motivate yourself! The successful woman in history: Amelia Earhart. The unexpected twist: even when you’re pursuing your dreams and goals, you still need to find ways to motivate yourself to keep going!

First, a word from our sponsor:

“When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others,” said Earhart.

Other people’s failures could motivate you to succeed where no woman has succeeded before – and no doubt that’s partly what spurred Earhart to achieve her goals. Here’s how to motivate yourself, with life lessons from the most famous female pilot in history…and, click on 20 Hours, 40 Min: Our Flight in the Friendship by Earhart for more info about her record-breaking flight.

How to Motivate Yourself – Amelia Earhart

Thrive on the success of others. Amelia Earhart had her own version of See Jane Soar: a scrapbook of newspaper clippings describing the achievements of successful women in law, engineering, advertising, business, and the film industry. Amelia knew how difficult it was (and is) to forge ahead, especially in male-dominated fields. Those articles improved her confidence, motivation, and passion. They represented the victories of women Amelia didn’t even know – women who nevertheless inspired her to soar.

Don’t compare yourself to others! There will always be successful women who are smarter, stronger, more confident, and even luckier than you. And, there will always be less successful women who aren’t as smart, strong, confident, or lucky as you. To motivate yourself, don’t compare yourself to anyone. You have your life to live, and other women have theirs. Read The Definition of a Successful Woman – Eleanor Roosevelt to learn what success means to different women.

Find – and push – your own buttons. If you really want to motivate yourself, pay attention to what drives you. Me, I like earning money for writing – so I’m motivated to keep writing and keep pitching articles no matter how many rejections I get. The life lesson here is that you can’t rely on others to motivate you…you have to find your own triggers, and you need to keep pulling them.

Do what comes naturally. Amelia Earhart broke records in altitude, speed, distance, and solo flying – partly because she was doing what came naturally to her. She was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and received countless other honors. Do you think she needed to find ways to motivate herself? No. She was a successful woman in history because she did what came naturally to her.

How do you motivate yourself? I welcome your comments below…

Earning Money to Pursue Your Passions – Amelia Earhart

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:55:25 +0000

The “See Jane Soar” life lesson: you have to leave your comfort zone to earn money if you want to pursue your passions! The successful woman: Amelia Earhart. She was an American aviatrix – female pilot – who took risks and forced herself to do things she didn’t want to do, just to earn money to pursue her passion – her infamous flying career.

It’s debatable what Earhart hated more: not being able to fly because she had no money, or performing like a circus pony for the public. She had to force herself to play to the crowds – but her husband, however, loved the spotlight. In Amelia Earhart: A Biography, Doris Rich writes, “If G.P. Putnam needed to bask in her limelight, she needed him to maintain that limelight.”

Here’s how Amelia Earhart earned money to pursue her passion for flying…and two life lessons you can take to the bank! And, if you’re a woman who wants to earn more money, click on Women’s Way of Earning Money by Cynthia May Westover Alden for some money making ideas.

Earning Money to Pursue Your Passions - Amelia Earhart

1. Get out of your comfort zone. Earhart reluctantly married publishing magnate George Palmer Putnam in 1931. She wrote him a letter stating that marrying him was “as foolish as anything I could do” (this, from a woman who flew alone over vast oceans through fog, rain, and darkness at 10,000 feet, inhaling gas fumes, barely eating or sleeping). After the wedding she insisted on keeping her full name – “Miss Amelia Earhart” – for business and writing purposes. To earn money for her flying “hobby”, Earhart forced herself to take action, even when it scared her. And for you to pursue your passions, dear reader, you too will need to leave your comfort zone.

2. Be prepared to work hard. Earhart feared marriage was a cage that would prevent her from working, but her concerns were groundless. She worked. A lot. Her pockets weren’t deep enough to pay for the planes, fuel, licenses, contest entry fees, flight arrangements, and navigators that her record-breaking flights demanded. So, Putnam kept Earhart jumping through never-ending, increasingly demanding hoops: speaking engagements, media interviews, professional dinners, new business ventures, press-friendly junkets, photo opportunities, and book signing tours.

Fame brought money, which gave her wings to fly. Earhart worked hard to make money so she could pursue her passions…and it gave her wings to fly.

Are you finding it difficult to pursue your passions because you don’t have enough money? Do you have any suggestions for other women about earning money to pursue their goals? Comment below!

For more info about Amelia Earhart, go to the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum.