New beginnings, New adventure, Next Chapter…

It’s so cliche.  I’m 58 years old and I am beginning a new career.  What am I thinking??? Throughout my adult life I’ve had so many career changes, or false starts.  I’ve been a proof operator, receptionist, secretary, administrative assistant, office manager.  Then I met the man of my dreams and went to college to become a teacher.  I taught High School English for ten years while raising my two children and then went on to becoming a college professor.

I reached my career goal when I became a college professor. Now I’m starting over, again.  Do you see a pattern?  The thing is, when I was in high school, I learned that my favorite author (at the time), Mary Higgins Clark, published her first novel later in life.  Knowing this prompted me to look a little further into her life.  I learned that she too had a few career changes or “false starts.” After high school, she went to secretarial school and worked for an ad agency, then became a stewardess for a year.  Ms. Clark then married and began writing.  She sold her first short story for $100 in 1956.  However, it wasn’t until 1975 that she published her first suspense novel and if you haven’t read “Where are the Children,” I highly recommend you do.  She was 48 when her career took off.

After reading about Mary Higgins Clark.  I took a deep dive into the internet and learned that, it’s never too late to begin again.  Martha Stewart published her first book at 41; Vera Wang decided to become a designer at 40.  She commissioned her first wedding dress for $10,000.00.  Robin Chase, co-founder of Zipcar, quit her job at 40 to be with her children when she and her friend thought of the car sharing company.  Harlan Sanders (AKA Colonel Sanders) was fired from several jobs and was broke at 65 when he sold his first franchise Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Rodney Dangerfield was 46 when he got his first big break on the Ed Sullivan Show.  Charles Darwin was 50 before he published “On the Origin of the Species” in 1859. Finally, Samuel L. Jackson was 46 when he starred in Pulp Fiction with John Travolta.  I’m sure there are many more people who hit their stride after 40, but learning about these trailblazers, I’m inspired to begin again.

Going back to when I was in high school and trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up, I heard, “Do what you love and you’ll never have to work,” or “Find your passion and then find a way to make money doing it.”  Well, I love knitting, reading, and storytelling.  I didn’t think I could make money knitting.  I can’t knit fast enough to mass produce my work to be sold in stores (remember, this was the 80’s, there was no internet or Etsy).  I could become a writer, but that required college and I was not interested in college.  So, I went the clerical route (like Mary Higgins Clark); and, like Ms. Higgins Clark, I was not satisfied.  

I went to college and became an English teacher.  This was satisfying and convenient for a long time, but I still felt something was missing. 

I met Edel MacBride, a designer and knitter who has single handedly brought the Aran Knit back into fashion.  She is my inspiration.  I met her in 2019 (the year before the world changed) on a knitting tour of Ireland.  I was a bit starstruck when I met her and there were so many people in our group that I did not have the opportunity to speak to her about my desire to knit commercially.  

Over the last 18 months I’ve found I’m in the same situation I was when I graduated from high school.  I’m starting over because we moved from Pittsburgh to DE.   However, now the internet exists and there is Etsy.  I’m hoping to combine my love of knitting and storytelling, and I’ve aptly named my website Patti’s Purlz to reflect this.  This blog is going to be about more than knitting. 

Thus begins my next chapter, new adventure…