Monday morning, and it’s grey and drizzling outside. London is as crowded, dirty and urgent as ever, and there are severe delays on the Northern Line for the third time this week. You struggle into work only to arrive half an hour late, and get hauled into a meeting to discuss your time keeping skills. And you wouldn’t mind, but somehow you know that this scene is being played out endlessly, every day, all over the country, and surely there must be more to life.
You want to get out, it’s just the mortgage/pension/kids/credit card that is stopping you… but it is possible. Here are five people who decided, one day and for whatever reason, that enough was enough. If you want to do the same, and the going gets tough, remember this pointed piece of advice: ‘Keep the faith! Everyone is jealous of you and would do the same if they had the balls.’
Rosalind Wade, formerly managing director of a conference company in Chicago turned Ayurvedic yoga teacher
“I wanted to give up my previous way of life as I found that the pay-off between what I was giving in terms of time and energy was not worth what I was getting out of it. I was being paid well, but my health was deteriorating, I was stressed and did not feel as though I was contributing anything useful to the world. If I am going to spend three quarters of my waking hours working, I would rather it were for myself rather than making money for a company.
I’m now almost finished with a three year Ayurvedic Medicine course, then have one more year for my MSc. I want to become an Ayurvedic physician and eventually run a Yoga/Ayurvedic retreat in Spain.
In many ways, I’m more stressed than ever now! It’s tough studying and working, but there is a goal in sight and it is not an empty goal, such as climbing higher up the corporate ladder. Most of all I am pleased I don’t have to do the daily commute, although I do travel into work two days a week and have to travel to college, but it’s not nearly as soul-destroying as the same routine every morning
It took me a while to get over the status anxiety of not having a proper job and not being successful in the traditional sense, worrying about what my peers or family thought. Of course, worrying about finances is not nice and one needs to work out a way to have a balance between having the things we need (house, food, some entertainment) without having to kill yourself for it. I sometimes miss the feelings of importance or thrill of traveling that a good job gives you, but know that those things aren’t real. I also miss managing a team of people as I like transferring knowledge. It’s about having a balance. We need to work to have a sense of self-worth and obviously to be able to take care of ourselves and, if applicable, family, but we only need the basics to survive. Being able to buy the latest designer whatever doesn’t give you happiness (for very long!)”
Gavin and Angela Quinney, former Head of Sales for a UK computer company turned Bordeaux chateau owner
“The company floated in 1998 and I had the opportunity to leave and sell my shares, which I took, and which meant that we had some money in the bank – a dangerous thing when you go looking around vineyards.
I had mentally switched off from the IT industry after a period of gardening leave, which I spent trawling around vineyards in the Southern Hemisphere in pursuit of wine knowledge. In June 99 I came to a wine trade fair in Bordeaux and stayed for a while. By then I had been converted from being a wine bore to a vine spotter. The sun was shining and maybe I was having a mid-life crisis moment. I also discovered that we could actually afford a chateau, albeit in the cheap seats not the royal circle. I came to Bauduc to try some wine and the rest is history.
The French have a saying, something along the lines of ‘there are three ways to ruin a man: A racehorse, an expensive mistress or a vineyard’. I can’t vouch for the first two but the latter is certainly close to the mark. The impact on us financially has been really tough. We’ve ploughed everything into the business and we have yet to make a profit. Some people realise that it’s hard work but that isn’t what bothers us. It’s the financial pressure, non stop – there are always costs to be met. In many businesses, you would simply order less products if you weren’t selling them. Vines don’t think like that.
Unless you’re a top Bordeaux chateau selling as futures ‘en primeur’, it’s tough – mainly due to over-supply globally. There is a downward pressure on prices. We changed the strategy from quantity to quality and lost all the trade customers who had bought the wine very cheaply. We now make house wines for UK chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Rick Stein and sell our wines on a mailing list in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
We have gained a lot. We now have four children and we have time together as a family (not always a joy), and we have the opportunity to do something quite different. It doesn’t matter if it’s better or worse – not many people have the chance to live two different lives. I think my wife and I have a common sense of purpose. We are certainly on a journey and we are a long way from the end of the road. But we’ll get there.”
Richard Stanley, former Senior Analyst Programmer in Sydney turned landscape photographer
“I was responsible for the deployment of large scale corporate websites, but had a passion for photography that came through traveling the world over the past 10 years. The choice between being a rush-hour commuter working in a dimly lit office and working outdoors with the elements wasn’t a difficult one to make.
The timing of the change was really dictated by the emergence of affordable digital cameras. Being able to take control of all aspects of the photographic process coupled with the economic benefits of shooting digitally has all made it all possible.
Financially I was able to make the change a gradual crossover. Selling my pictures, while still in full time employment enabled me to put all the money from sales back into the business to buy more equipment and materials.
In order for things to run smoothly it was important that I tested the waters before setting out to become a full-time Landscape Photographer. Selling to friends gave me confidence but it was only when I started selling at local markets and getting feedback from total strangers that it became clear that I could succeed.
I’ve gained a lot of freedom with going it alone. I make all the decisions for the business and what I’ll be doing on a daily basis, but the biggest loss has inevitably been the financial security of working in a full time occupation. The only really negative experience came from trying to work with banks. They are very reluctant to help start up businesses with no financial track record especially when it comes to setting up e-commerce solutions. Finding my audience is difficult too – it’s one thing selling to tourists at Sydney markets, but trying to market over the internet is a different kettle of fish altogether.”
John and Sian Meers, former Nestlé executives in York turned bespoke tour operators
“We both worked for Nestlé since leaving university, in everything from marketing coffee to chocolate product development. Five years ago, we had a holiday in Burgundy in our TVR. We spent a week cruising the vineyards and eating at Michelin-starred restaurants. When we returned to England, many of our friends asked how they could do the same thing. “Without the car and the prior planning I don’t suppose you can!” was the answer… then we started thinking… and three years later Gourmet Touring was born .
We moved the idea to Bordeaux because the climate is better, sold our house and cars in the UK, bought a 1967 Jaguar E-Type and a 1969 Mercedes Pagoda, and took the plunge. Gone were the dependable salaries and the security – but in wanting to achieve our goal together with the new lifestyle that went with it we accepted we would have to bear some pain in the early years. To ensure the transition went smoothly, we carried out some fairly exhaustive market research. John gave up his job to work on the business plan for 6 months before Sian gave up hers and we moved out to France permanently. There were obviously lots of surprises and things that didn’t go to plan (especially where the French administrative services were concerned) but all in all the planned approach of doing the research up front really paid off.
French banks have proved to be a big challenge. Remember what UK banks were like about 15 years ago? Well the French ones are 10 years behind that and the bureaucracy and cost of doing the simplest of transactions is just amazing. Talk to them about a loan and you get the same reaction as John got when he once asked for horse cheese in a deli (he meant to say goat’s cheese).
It helped to know that we have a great product, and the feedback from press and clients has been wonderful. The idea of cruising wine country in an open-topped sports car, getting an individually-planned itinerary from cooking classes to spa days manages to convince most people that we’re on the right track… and we now have the freedom and the satisfaction of creating and running our own business, lots of new DIY skills from our farmhouse renovation project, a dog (impossible with previous lifestyle), some second language skills (although still not fluent by any stretch of the imagination) and a lifestyle that feels much more healthy and enjoyable than before.”
Sarah Ahmed, former commercial lawyer in London turned wine educator
“I was always interested in food, but the wine interest developed after I went on a tasting course – in particular a 1986 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon – I had never tasted a developed wine before and its complexity blew me away.
I had always felt ambivalent about the law, and the wine interest came along at the right time. As an equity partner heading my department and on the firm’s management committee, I had as much autonomy as I was going to get and if I wasn’t happy then, when was I going to be? It made a massive difference financially of course – a reduction in salary from partner in a law firm to shop floor assistant in Oddbins is pretty severe… a friend described me as “agressively downwardly mobile”!
The move was very much faciliated by the fact that I had to give and work a year’s notice which meant that I had time to prepare mentally and financially. I also had several sessions with an excellent life coach because, at the time I handed in my notice, wine was very much a fantasy job. Those sessions helped me understand my values/motivators.
I guess something which surprised me early on and for which I had not bargained was the loss of status. I had not thought this would bother me but when I worked in Oddbins on the shopfloor in the City, I found it quite hard being treated dismissively/rudely by City folk who perceived me to be a mere shop assistant – that gave me pause for thought about my own attitudes so I think I’m a much nicer customer these days so it did turn into a positive!”
