… kind of like a global brainstorming session
You see, I have been teaching English for about 15 years now and it’s time for a change. But I find that whenever I try to think of ‘what else I could do’ my brain seems to be stuck in a rut and no fresh ideas come to me. Ever since the clothing biz fizzled (either from bad marketing or maybe just bad designs?) I haven’t been able to come up with anything else.
So I thought it might be a good idea to have a brainstorming session here to see if you lovelies might be able to help me get out of my rut. To start off, here are short lists of skills, relevant work experiences (don’t think the coffin upholstering job counts) and also a few personal interests.
Some things that are definitely out (for various reasons) are: working for someone else, tourguide, opening a shop. Ideal job would be one I could start from home where I get to be the boss and have minions… 😉
Skills
- bilingual (Spanish & English)
- typing (66 words a minute!)
- designing, cutting & sewing of clothing
- organising and motivating people
- organising in general
Work experience
- production manager for clothing designers
- office manager
- shop manager
- waitress/restaurant manager
- teaching English
- translating Spanish to English
Interests
- reading
- writing
- cats
- blogging (got about ten going at the moment)
- food & drink, cooking
casa azahar 
some random neural firings (the only kind i can manage some days):
– clothing – but with a unique focus. there was a local woman who designed, made and sold clothing for those in with disabilities (encouraging independence). fashionable, but practical…
– work at home – in the states, there many ‘work for yourself’ schemes. selling everything from kitchen products (http://pamperedchef.com/) to sex toys (http://pureromance.com/). Once you start having ‘parties’ and moving merchandise, then others who like the merchandise can host parties as well – giving you ‘minions’…
– life coach – oh, you’re TOTALLY qualified for this one! My friend bob (http://bobzyeruncle.com) is a “Life Club” coach in the UK. http://www.lifeclubs.co.uk/ We had discussed exporting the program to the US, but unfortunately, i live in the middle of nowhere, and there would be a limited market. Something to think about – if the concept might work in Spain?
I’ll have more… but you have a remarkable collection of skills and experience. Life is improvisational dance, and you’re just looking for the right moves…
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how about opening a restaurant for bilingual cats?
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Some very quick – off the top of the head – ideas.
You could push the translating?
How about web design – I’m, thinking maybe of Spanish people with rental apartments etc – assisting getting their websites such that they will attract English speaking visitors.
Maybe you don’t want to be a tour guide, but is there any work to be had from people relocating to Spain – mentoring them through the lifestyle changes, helping with property purchases etc?
Think about the services that you would have benefited from, had they been there, when you moved – either to Spain, or overseas – could you provide any of them to others in the same position?
That’s it for starters.
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I’ve emailed Life Club to ask for information about starting something in Seville, daisy, and I’ve also sent an email to bob – thanks! It looks worth checking out.
Not sure about the ‘house party’ types of businesses as I don’t think I’d find just selling stuff very satisfying. Well, except for the possible ‘minions’ bit. 😉
nursemyra … *smooch*
Yes, I could push the translating Johnny. But I’ve seen quite a few websites that give info to expats for free so I don’t think they’d want to pay for something like that. I’m going to get in touch with a group here called The American Women’s Club (not just for Americans) and talk to them about services they might like to see in Seville.
Please keep the ideas coming…
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Over on this post last year I was looking for a name for a website based on teaching and translation. The other day someone suggested ‘talk talk’. What do you think?
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If only *smooching* Nursemyra paid ………. oh well
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If only a lot of things paid, Daddypapersurfer… oh, and welcome to casa az! 🙂
Today my friend/student Carmen, the one who took me to Gibraltar, helped me put together a Spanish CV that she is going to send to one of her colleagues (they work for the regional government) as there might be some work doing classes, translations, etc for government officials. Also to act as a personal translator on trips, though I’m not sure I’d really be qualified for that. It wouldn’t be all that different from what I’m doing now, but maybe doing similar stuff in a different way would help recharge the ol’ batteries. And also earn me some decent dosh.
Another idea I had, again with teaching, was to approach some of the restaurants on my Sevilla Tapas blog, the ones that have several branches in town, and offer them group classes for their staff. And also to translate their menus properly – honestly, some of them are pretty hilarious.
I notice nobody has commented on my clothes – they must be even worse than I thought!
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Well we’ve mentioned my taste, or lack of it before – I’m not qualified to comment on the clothes 😉 .
I think the key thing is to work out how to make cash out of what you enjoy! Sounds easy!
The menu idea sounds good – you should at least get some cheap/free meals out of it.
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Oh, okay then … why didn’t I think of that? 😛
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Who knows? I put my thinking of it down to my natural genius
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So maybe I mean, things that you enjoy and are good at, and maybe there is:
a) a market for
&
b) not many others are able to fill that need.
I’m trying to think of somehting that the sewing skills could be useful for, but that’s not my strong suit (geddit?)
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Oh no, leave out the sewing bit please – I hate sewing! Though I love working with fabrics and colours.
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designing clothing for bisexual cats perhaps?
oh wait… you said bilingual didn’t you?
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oh dear oh dear… I see daddyp has followed us over here. now you’ll never get the stains out of the carpet….
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Or maybe designer bilingual blogging cats? The possibilities are rather overwhelming, aren’t they?
Meanwhile, DaddyP can make up for the carpet by coming up with a great job idea that includes minions…
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I’ve been in touch with Life Clubs and have sent them my CV, so now I’m just waiting to get more information on that.
Doing personal growth and development stuff, in a practical and intelligent way, sounds like it could be right up my alley. Also, my teaching experience has confirmed for me that I quite enjoy working with people.
Thanks again for that, daisy. You see, I knew this global brainstorming session was a good idea. 🙂
And still taking suggestions …
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Az, I’ve been thinking about this for days now, and I have to say I’m completely hopeless and haven’t come up with a single useful suggestion. I’m so sorry!
I’m not good at career type stuff, having simply fallen into the jobs I’ve held pretty much by accident. I’ve always found that letting as many people as you can know that you’re looking for something else will usually turn something up, which can be tried and then ditched again if it turns out not to be suitable.
But I will keep thinking about it… 🙂
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