The Perfect Portfolio Career (for Me) Once upon a time, there was a young princess who had a promising career as an internal auditor for a major corporation. The princess enjoyed company paid trips to exotic locations in Europe, and exotic and not so exotic locations throughout North America. All she had to do was work her 40 (or 50) hours, and then she was free to explore. In her spare time she used her frequent flyer miles to see yet more of the world.
Presently, a new little princess was born. After five years of daycare and the normal juggling act (and sometimes arm-wrestling) that accompanies two working parents, the princess knew it was time for a change. The princess, of course, is me. When it was time for a change, I decided to make it a big one! So I bravely took the plunge, enrolled in graduate school, and submitted my resignation. As an accountant, I knew this would cause my family some budgetary pain. One line on our budget stood out as ripe for elimination – vacations – but I just couldn’t seem to give up our annual trek to Florida to see Mickey. Hmmmm… what if I could find a part-time job that would bring in enough money to save that budgetary item, provide me with a lot of flexibility so I could still complete grad school, and allow me to see Mickey, too? I’ve always loved to plan vacations, and had for many years been the official planner-in-chief when vacationing with friends. I made my decision, and within 30 days of deciding to become a travel consultant, I booked my first client! Fast forward to 2007. Almost four years have passed since the day I decided to pursue a career in the travel industry. I have since completed grad school, and now teach at a local university. I also teach computer classes for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students at an adult education center, and occasionally do some short term consulting work in the audit field. And then there is my ‘fun’ job – that of travel consultant. What’s so fun about working in travel? It is hard to explain – it’s captured in the photo of a smiling family that a client sends along with a note of thanks after their vacation, and knowing that I had a part in making that family vacation special. It’s helping someone in a cruise group assemble their scrapbook so they can look back years from now and remember that experience. It’s the challenge of inspecting a property or ship with a critical eye to capture as many details as possible in order to pass those along. It’s the people I’ve met who I now am privileged to consider my friends – clients and coworkers alike. So what’s next, you may ask? Well, I love all of my jobs, and enjoy the flexibility that my portfolio career provides. I am able to be home when my daughter gets off the school bus, I’m home with her during school vacations (except when we’re at a Disney destination or on a cruise ship) and I am able to be involved at her school. I think I can summarize it by saying that with a home-based career and multiple jobs, time management will always be a challenge, but at least it’s MY time to manage! Maybe I’ll take up writing next…
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One day the princess met her prince. After she swept him off his feet (this is a modern fairy tale, after all) they were married on top of a mountain in Alaska with the backdrop of a hanging glacier. 