The first question I find myself asking when I meet new people is "What do you do?" And it's not me being polite. I'm truly curious about the answer.
Today at the sauna, I met a farmer. He has 200 cattle for beef. We talked about how he found the dry spell we experienced. (He was fine. Lots of silage from last year). About the next generation of farming and the diseases cows get.
When asking this question, I'm really asking - what do you dedicate your life to? Are you happy with your choice? I ask because I truly believe that we all have something or some things to do in this world, big or small; well paid or not paid at all, it doesn't matter. It's the quest to find ways of using our unique gifts, that sense of fulfilment that is worth all the hardships that come with being alive.
So I got thinking about jobs. And how September often acts as the threshold for making career decisions. Maybe because September marks the end of summer. And summer is when we get to rest, and with rest, and the chaos of holiday time, some of us get a chance to dream.
So September can mark the threshold of coming back from the dream into reality.
This is what happened to me last September. Last year, around June, I was feeling the urge to go back to work after a year of recovery from a burnout. Over the summer, I dreamt of what my next business would be. I met people, I asked questions, I tested the water. In September, I started my coaching practice and Her Circle, a support community for women in business. So for me, September marked the start of a new life phase, a new identity.
I'm lucky to be a veteran in starting businesses. I started my first business at age 22, when I couldn't find a job; I was a terrible waitress, and for other jobs I was either overqualified or underqualified. As a student, I needed money and flexibility. So, with my parents' encouragement, I started running kids' workshops. I had five small groups for ages 4 to 5, that ran for two hours. This was a big selling point for parents. I developed the curriculum and called it "Kids discover the world," combining all the things I love: art, cultures, and nature.
When I arrived in Ireland in 2006, even though I'd been working as a multimedia designer for years, running kids' workshops was my safe default. I built a puppet theatre and turned a story I wrote - "The Stolen Heart" - into a puppet show workshop. With the help of the kids, we brought the story to life and presented it in old folk homes.
Since then, I had many adventures as a solo entrepreneur and also built a company, Think Visual, into a business that employed 5 employees and 12 contractors, running large budget projects for government and private sectors. Last year, after 13 years, I scaled it down and closed it.
Exhausted, I let myself have the break I needed. I grieved, released, connected back to myself, made art, wrote. Around last June, I started feeling the itch to come back.
When September arrived, it took me a day or two to update my website and give it a facelift to suit my new dream. Within a week, I felt ready to start promoting Her Circle and my coaching business. Having a brand and website that could be reused was great, but more than that, what supported me was the 26 years of experience running businesses of different sizes. I had realistic expectations and the know-how of what to look for when starting a business.
For the past year, I took a deep dive into supporting people in starting or growing their own business. And thinking of the next article I want to write for West Cork People, I was reminded that September also marks the start of the recruitment season. I got curious about that. What is happening for people who are searching for their next job? I sense that much is changing with AI taking front stage, the cost of living rising, and global unrest impacting the local job market.
With all of those thoughts in my mind about September - a threshold from dream to reality, a point to generate momentum in business, the start of the recruitment season and time for career change - I reached out to my friend Karen O'Reilly, of EmployFlex, a recruitment agency in Clonakilty focused on part-time work. Karen's passion is different from mine; she helps people find the right job. I'm really curious to hear what drew her to that. I'd love to discover what lies between us - I'm sure it will be a conversation worth having.
So before we talk, I'd love to hear from you:
What does September mean to you?
Are you getting ready for a new career, starting a business, or finding a new direction? What do you wish for some magic to make easy? Or what superpowers do you wish you had? And if there's a question you'd want me to put to Karen, or a topic you'd like the two of us to dig into - please send them my way; I’ll make sure to have them in my pocket.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
