I recently returned from a trip to Austin where we visited family over Independence Day weekend. It was great to see so much extended family in one trip! Both my family and my ex-husband’s (my children’s father) family live in and around the Austin area. Additionally, my husband’s family (his parents and brother) recently moved to the area as well. In one trip, we were able to visit 3 different branches of the family tree!
At one of our many family gatherings, my stepbrother asked me about my work situation. In a recent post, I had talked about some financial difficulties my university was facing. This had led to layoffs in my department and a general drop in morale. My stepbrother joked, “Maybe it’s time to start diversifying your income!” I laughed at his comment at first, feeling secure in my job position, but the comment stuck with me and made me start thinking.
For many years I have had career aspirations in mind that I thought might or might not come true. But now I have begun to look at these dreams in a new light. Could they actually be achievable? And are they worth pursuing?
big dreams
For over a decade now, I’ve had a desire to write a popular journalism book. It would be something related to my career and academic area of expertise (not a novel or anything!). I’ve been published many times in peer-reviewed academic journals and edited books, but I recently published my first popular journalism article related to my professional field. It felt really good! Similar to writing this blog. It’s completely different from my usual academic writing style and I really enjoyed it. It’s made me think about the book idea again. Is it time to revisit this idea?
Additionally, I always had a dream of becoming a “motivational speaker.” I remember speaking at school assemblies from a very young age (I vividly remember two of them in middle school in particular) and thinking, “I want to do that someday!” Here I am, 30 years later, and I’ve never really taken that idea seriously. But why not? I have expertise in a field that would be particularly useful to business. Why not hire me as an expert speaker to speak to executives at some of these major companies, using my academic background to provide credibility?
Recently (over the past decade), I’ve also thought it would be really fun to host a podcast! I know the podcast market is super saturated at this point, and again, this seemed like a fantasy. Like, “Oh, that would be fun, but it’s never going to happen.” But why not? Again, drawing on my academic background and area of expertise, why not launch a podcast with a broader audience, since a lot of my work applies to people outside of the ivory towers of academia.
symbiotic relationship
You’ll notice that all of these ideas complement my academic career. I don’t plan on leaving my job anytime soon. It helps pay the bills and I feel lucky to have a career that I enjoy. But I see any of the ideas above, if implemented, as being beneficial to my “day job” and vice versa. My academic background gives me the credibility to speak on certain topics, and having a side gig in any of the above categories would be great for my academic career as well. Aside from the career benefits, I truly believe that I would enjoy pursuing any/all of the avenues I’ve outlined above (and probably others!). They will bring a level of professional satisfaction and fulfillment that can feel like a huge boost when morale in an academic workplace is flagging.
Of course, there is a huge benefit in diversifying my income streams. I will be able to protect myself in case more workers are laid off, furloughed, or whatever financial situation may arise in the future. And if one source of income is affected, at least I will have access to other sources.
A beautiful time has passed
I have a short sabbatical coming up this fall, and I plan to use some of my time to dig deeper into these ideas. For example, with the motivational speaker position, I’ll be solidifying the topic(s) I can speak about, and figuring out how to “brand myself” that way. I’m thinking I might need an agent to help me market myself. And maybe working with a career coach a few times could benefit me? I’ll definitely need to set up an LLC and create an Instagram business account to have a social media presence. I’m looking forward to taking time away from my regular day job to focus on some of these endeavors that will ultimately benefit my career, but also help me find personal benefit outside of my full-time job as well.
To that end, I would love to hear advice if anyone has anything to offer. Unfortunately, for privacy reasons, I don’t feel comfortable revealing my exact field of work or the topics I can write/speak about. But in general, if anyone has good resources I can read to learn more about getting into these types of endeavors, I’d be happy to listen!
The post Diversify Your Income was first published on Blogging Away Debt.
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