making career changes

Do You Know Your Career Path as a Writer? I Didn’t

October 20, 2015 by diannejacob 10 Comments

Here’s a nice looking path. Are you on it?

My current career path took off with a phone call.

It was 2004, after I taught a food writing workshop at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA. A student called to say she met my workshop supervisor at a party and had a conversation that went like this:

“I really enjoyed Dianne’s class on food writing,”she told my supervisor.

“Dianne does a great job,” answered the supervisor. “I wish she had a book, though, to improve her credibility.”

I can’t remember the name of this student, but I thank her often. That phone call changed [Read more…] about Do You Know Your Career Path as a Writer? I Didn’t

Q&A: Change is Scary but Not Listening to Yourself is Scarier

November 4, 2014 by diannejacob 25 Comments

Down on the farmstead…a happy Joe in 2012, on leave from his full-time job at The Washington Post.

Wondering how to transition from a blog whose subject no longer thrills you? Looking for a career change or a way to recharge? Joe Yonan understands the positive power of change and has accomplished many shifts in his career.

The award-winning Food and Travel editor of The Washington Post spent 2012 in North Berwick, Maine, on leave from the Post to learn about growing food and homesteading from his sister and brother-in-law.

Earlier, he started the Post’s Weeknight Vegetarian column. There was a big to do, since people assume newspaper food writers are omnivores. Now he’s writing about growing food on his 150-square-foot urban front yard, in addition to managing the food and travel sections of the paper. [Read more…] about Q&A: Change is Scary but Not Listening to Yourself is Scarier