Today’s issue of Passion Profile features Bethany North, who made the leap into entrepreneurship to spend all day with her passion — coffee.
Kristi Daeda: Tell us what you do for a living, and how you got into that?
Bethany North: I work as a freelance writer and blogger, as well as full-time for two of my own websites. My personal website is for wedding makeup in San Antonio at www.facebybethany.com, and my boyfriend and I co-run our coffee website business at www.thecoffeebump.com. I do all article writing and SEO for our coffee website, as well as our blog. This was something that I completely stumbled into since my boyfriend wanted to start our own business through a website with his SEO knowledge. I was working in laser hair removal, and I wanted to quit and do something that I was more passionate about. I just had the brilliant idea that I could freelance write from home, and it worked perfectly with how we wanted to start our own business. I get income on the side from these freelance writing jobs with the main focus of promoting our business so that it can support us in the future.
KD: What do you love about your work?
BN: I love being my own boss and being able to be creative in my writing. I have always been an outgoing person, but I have never seen writing as something that I would be able to do as a career. I took the risk and jumped into it, and as it turns out, I am very good at it! I am disciplined, so it works best for me to work at home because I can work faster at the pace that I would like. This is totally stimulating to me because I get a rush by getting a bunch of different projects done, as well as all that I need to complete for our websites. I thought that I would have an issue working at home and having no coworkers, but it turns out that I totally love being a loner and working by myself!
KD: How do you know that what you’re doing now is your passion?
BN: For the first time, I feel excited every day when I wake up to go to work! I have always heard people say that about their jobs, but until this point, I had never felt like I had found my niche. I work at home, and I still wake up at seven in the morning to start work on time, which says a lot for how passionate I am about my job! I get a thrill out of new projects and always being able to do a new task, which makes me feel like I have finally found what I am made to do.
KD: Have you had to make sacrifices to make this career change? What have they been?
BN: The personal sacrifices that I have made for this career change have primarily been emotional because I am a workaholic, and it was hard for me to adjust to the concept that a lot of the work that I was doing was for the future and not necessarily garnering a paycheck right now. This was something that I adjusted to in that I’m investing in our future by doing this work for our website, with the purpose of it paying off in the long run. It was hard for me to give up control and take risks by working at home!
KD: What has been the biggest thing that you’ve learned since you’ve made this transition?
BN: The biggest thing that I have learned since starting my new career is time management! I mentioned before that I am a workaholic, and I have a really hard time saying no.
KD: What one thing would you tell others looking to make a career leap?
BN: I would say that anyone looking to make a career leap should definitely do it, and also focus on faking it until they make it. I guess you would call this confidence, but I am the type of person that will say that I am capable of doing something, and then figure out how to do it later. This really hasn’t gotten me into too much trouble, but it has given me the opportunity to learn new things when I agree to do a certain project that I haven’t done before. You don’t know until you try!
Bethany North is a coffee fanatic that has spent the entirety of her career cultivating and studying all of the best uses and brewing styles for optimal coffee and espresso flavor. Her specialty site for all coffee needs, supplies, and the Saeco Aroma can be found at www.thecoffeebump.com.
photo credit: lepiaf.geo
Related posts:
- Passion Profile: Andrew Ng, Serial Entrepreneur
- Passion Profile: Josh Cary, Entrepreneur
- What is your manifesto? The path to passion
- It’s never too late for passion: Are you Susan Boyle?
- Guest Post: Does your career support your lifestyle?
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