Ella Schutt offers a treat to Mercedes. (Photo courtesy of Steve Kolmer.)

What would happen to your pet if you were incapacitated or died?

According to a recent report by the BMO Retirement Institute, 61% of Americans own a pet. Of these pet ‘owners”, 87% consider pets to be a “family member”, and 77% feel it’s important to make arrangements for their ongoing care in the event that their pet outlives them.  But surveys show that only one-third of pet owners have actually made some kind of estate planning provision for them.

Emerging needs in the marketplace provide opportunities for insightful people to create services and provide resources to meet those needs:

Ella Schutt created Palm Meow Inc, in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. A long time cat owner and experienced social services agency executive, she saw an opportunity for a rewarding second career by expanding the concept of cat boarding to cat retirement centers. She helps owners plan for the lifelong care of their pets as part of their personal estate planning process, and helps their cats adapt to retirement center living.

Dr. Henry Presnal. (Photo courtesy of Division of Marketing & Communications at Texas A&M University.)

Veterinarian Henry Presnal runs the Stevenson Companion Animal Life Care Center as a joint project with Texas A&M University.  The Stevenson Center, which provides a home setting for dogs, cats, parrots, horses and a llama named Rusty, is funded by pet owners who set up endowments to insure the long term care of their animals. Additional funding by university benefactors provides opportunities for providing the next generation of veterinarians the opportunities to learn to treat animals by maintaining their wellness as well as diagnosing and treating medical issues.

The Livelihood Show highlights pathfinders who are creating innovative businesses and work opportunities at the intersection of their personal passion and unmet needs in the marketplace. Get inspired and find ideas, resources and insights to help you navigate your personal career path. Tune in to Livelihood: Create What’s Next On Your Personal Career Path with host Marcy Rosenbaum: Wed 9:00 am GST; Thurs 7:00 pm EST on Radio Ear Network.

Peggy Bass with student, Alexa. (Photo courtesy of Good Hope Equestrian Center.)

When Peggy Bass was growing up, her passion for horses was a completely unexpected event in her family. She didn’t grow up on a farm, or on a ranch.
Her love of horses launched her personal career path. When a family came to her looking for therapeutic horseback riding for their disabled daughter, Peggy created Good Hope Equestrian Training Center in South Miami-Dade to provide equine assisted therapy to children, teens and adults. Their newest program, Horses for Heroes, in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs, pairs veterans with horses as a way to promote therapeutic change, both physical and psychological.Henry David Thoreau, author, philosopher and naturalist, wrote: “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” Good Hope Equestrian Training Center puts this philosophy into practice. Peggy Bell combined her passion for horses, and certification from the prestigious Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International, into an organization where people and horses learn to dance.

Related Links:

Good Hope Equestrian Center Charity Concert

Want to hear how our greatest opportunities can emerge at the intersection of our expertise, purpose and marketplace opportunities?  Get inspired and find ideas, resources and insights to help you navigate your personal career path. Livelihood: Create What’s Next On Your Personal Career Path with host Marcy Rosenbaum airs Wed. 9:00 am GS/; Thurs 7:00 pm EST on Radio Ear Network.

This episode’s book: Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life by Mark Freedman

Livelihood: Create What’s Next On Your Personal Career Path with host Marcy Rosenbaum: Wed 9:00 am GST; Thurs 7:00 pm EST on Radio Ear Network.

Related Links

Encore Careers: a website for the growing network of people who want work that matters in the second half of life
Civic Ventures: working to define the second half of life as a time for individual and social renewal

Charles Regal & Friend; photo: Richard McDonald

For many couples, the bond they have with their pets turns out to be more enduring than the one they made with their spouse or domestic partner. When a couple breaks up, what becomes of their dog, cat, horse or rabbit? If courts and attorneys get involved, the only certainties are high stress and high cost. Charles Regal proposes an alternative: pet mediation. Trained in social work, but laid off with 25 years of experience resolving all sorts of landlord-tenant, workplace and neighbor disputes, Regal recognized a need and an opportunity. He created a professional practice focused exclusively on resolving custody battles over pets.

On this week’s show, we’ll meet the founder of Regal Pet-Centric Mediation and learn how he helps people design mutually acceptable agreements by keeping the focus on their pets’ well being and inspiring their higher motivations. It’s working: for the people and their animals.

For Regal, love is rooted in gratitude. His cat, Sapphire, actually saved his life by recognizing that while he slept, his blood sugar level had fallen dangerously low. Yowling and licking his face, she woke him up and prevented his falling into a diabetic coma.

Until recent changes in American law, custody battles over the pets could be dreadful – and deadly. Animals were treated like property or worse; they could even be put down when “owners” couldn’t agree on how to resolve custody. More recently, people are recognizing their relationship with their animals is more than ownership, and the law has begun to acknowledge it as a guardianship relationship. This has opened up an innovative career path for Charles Regal.

Entrepreneurship is one of the challenges he has had to meet reinventing his work life, but he is eager to share his lessons and has great confidence in his own and others’ mental and spiritual resources to generate independence and business viability by filling a market niche.

Listen to his emotional stories and gain from his practical lessons. Get inspired and find ideas, resources and insights to help you navigate your personal career path. Tune in to Livelihood: Create What’s Next On Your Personal Career Path with host Marcy Rosenbaum: Wed 9:00 am GST; Thurs 7:00 pm EST on Radio Ear Network.

This week’s book recommendation: Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate, by Roger Fisher and  Daniel Shapiro,
Narrated by Roger Fisher, Daniel Shapiro.

Lacey, Charlie, Storme, Diamond

In this week’s show, you’ll meet Dennis Kalodish and Alicia Chipy who train and partner with therapy dogs. Therapy dogs are professional visitors, making their rounds in hospitals, nursing homes and rehab centers.  Dennis Kalodish parleyed his love for golden retrievers into a project in which he trains and certifies them to become “everyone’s pet” in nursing home visitors..  and even to serve as library reading partners. Dennis trains dogs through Therapy Dogs International.

Alicia Chipy’s Havanese, Dolly, has a temperament that’s perfect to be the family pet for children receiving extensive medical treatments at Miami’s Ronald McDonald House: Dolly even understand Spanish.

And join us next week, when we learn more about service dogs, like seeing eye dogs who are specially trained to partner with handlers who are legally blind; mobility dogs who are specially trained to partner with handlers with MS, Parkinsons or paralysis; and psychiatric service dogs who are trained to work with owners whose symptoms with Alzheimers, PTSD, epilepsy or agoraphobia find it possible to rejoin the world with their partner dogs by their side.

Get inspired and find ideas, resources and insights to help you navigate your personal career path. Tune in to Livelihood: Create What’s Next On Your Personal Career Path with host Marcy Rosenbaum: Wed 9:00 am GST; Thurs 7:00 pm EST on Radio Ear Network.

Related Links:

Library Dogs

Marcy’s audio book recommendation Becoming Light by Erica Jong

Service Dog (Photo by Betta5 via StockXchang)

In contemporary work settings, people and dogs are finding new work related partnerships. Specially trained service dogs make it possible to pursue a livelihood despite a disability that impacts mood or mobility.

Who trains the seeing eye dogs that help legally blind owners navigate the bus route to work? Who trains the mobility dogs that help owners with MS, Parkinsons’ or paralysis keep their balance, pull wheelchairs or bring a fallen chair back upright?  Who teaches psychiatric service dogs to recognize the signs of disorientation and lead their owners back to a familiar space where they can regroup safely? Who understands the medical needs of illnesses such as diabetes or epilepsy so they can train service dogs to
warn of an impending attack, ease a person to the ground, and fetch help or necessary medication?

Meet Joan Froling, a veteran dog trainer who parleyed her skills in training show dogs… with her courage in facing a life threatening illness… and her commitment for advocacy

and civil rights… to dojust this. She co-founded Sterling Service Dogs to meet the growing need to find and train dogs with the temperament and aptitude to become capable service dogs. She’s also the Chairperson and co-founder of the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners which represents and advocates for disabled persons who work with guide, hearing or service dogs

We also meet up with two local owners at a recent event sponsored by the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind—The Annual Walk, Waggle and Stroll
Event. Janice Bartelson and Sandra Hicks talk about their seeing eye dogs, and share how they are integrated into their work and family lives. We even learn about an annual golf tournament sponsored by the U.S. Blind Golfers Association to prove that where there’s a will, there’s often a way…

Lee Greene of Scrumptious Pantry at the Good Food Festival in Chicago.

Consumers seek affordable luxuries even as they trim their budgets elsewhere. Food entrepreneurs are paying attention, and the recent Good Food Festival in Chicago brought together thousands of growers, chefs, marketing companies, buyers and consumers—a global farmers market.
A recent New York Times Magazine article called “Don’t Mock the Artisanal Pickle Makers” by Adam Davidson, noted that “craft businesses may portend the future of the U.S economy.” We met some of these “hipster capitalists:”

Kevin Sabo of Chicago was  in the plumbing supply business and getting an MBA when he found himself in an exciting new food start-up start-up called Tiny But Might Popcorn.

Joel and Leticia Pollock bring the art of roasting coffee beans to the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. Their coffee house, Panther Coffee, is located in the nerve center of Art Basel Miami every December but it provides a community gathering place all year round.

Leticia Ramos Pollock and Joel Pollock are the co-owners of Panther Coffee in Miami.

Lee Greene of Chicago used her MBA in marketing and strategy, her work as a management consultant and a six year apprenticeship in at a winery to she help Midwestern family farms create jams, sauces and pickles that are affordable luxuries for people who appreciate good food with her Scrumptious Pantry products.

There is also an emerging movement of people want don’t just want to buy organic, healthy food; they want to grow it. According to Yes! Magazine, at a Mother Earth News Fair in Seattle, Washington, “more than 10,000 attended workshops on everything from canning to beekeeping to building the perfect chicken coop.”

Veterans are also finding the challenges and satisfaction of farming can provide a natural transition away from combat, providing a mission to fulfill the needs of a community for food and self-sufficiency. Veterans who want to transition into careers as farmers are getting help from a growing number of projects around the country including the Farmer-Veteran Coalition(FVC); and the University of Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture’s Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots program.

He wanted something more. He decided to go back to graduate school—studying wine and earning level two certification as a sommelier.

A sommelier is a trained professional who specializes in wine selection, service and food matching. A sommelier may also be responsible for developing wine lists, for the delivery of wine service, and training for the other restaurant staff. He works with the culinary teams to pair and suggest wines that will best complement food menu items, drawing on a deep knowledge of how food and wine, beer, spirits and other beverages work in harmony.

For those of us who’ve been considering going back to school for additional training, we asked Jeremy about the career path of a wine expert. It’s a lot harder than I’d imagined…

Jeremy Houghton holds an associate degree in Culinary Arts and a bachelor’s degree in Food Service Management, both from Johnson & Wales. In addition to his Level 2 certification in Sommelier, he’s a certified food management professional through the National Restaurant Association and a certified master TiPS trainer through Health Communications Inc.

Related Links:

Foodie Fight and Wine Wars Trivia Games

Preparing for South Beach Wine & Food Festival: Dean Mike Hampton and FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management students. (Photo courtesy of FIU.)

This is the high season in South Beach Florida, and we revel in the festivals that take advantage of our sunshine and mild winter weather.  Last week’s event was the South Beach Wine and Food Festival.  We attended the festival and met up there Dean Mike Hampton.  He’s the Dean of Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Hampton was kind enough to sit with us amongst the hustle and bustle in the Grand Tasting Village and share his insight on where the business of hospitality is going. Dean Hampton explained what he thinks the hospitality industry has to offer people at all points in their careers, including college students at the entry level and professionals looking for encore careers.

Of course, the essential skill in the hospitality business is the art of welcoming guests and being personable.  Technology is a newer component that provides new ways of connecting with guests and customers. Dean Hampton gave the example of the restaurant Bone’s in Atlanta, which uses iPads to facilitate wine and food menu choices.

After the festival, we connected with Brian Phelan, Director of Procurement for Feeding South Florida.  Phelan and his team coordinated a massive food rescue effort after the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.  Food rescue means safely using unserved and still consumable food.  In the case of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, chefs and restaurants have to overprepare so they don’t run out of food. This year, Phelan and his team rescued about 40,000 pounds of food.

After the Burger Bash, Brian Phelan and others on the team at Feeding South Florida weigh and sort food (including a lot of gourmet burger patties) before loading it onto the refrigerated truck. (Photo by Trina Sargalski.)

Phelan worked in the restaurant industry for 25 years, but he needed a change. For one thing, he was tired of having to send back untouched plates of food to the kitchen when customers said, “I don’t like the way it looks.”  Phelan channeled his knowledge of the food industry into a career for social good that energizes him.

Feeding South Florida is a clearinghouse that provides food and meals to over 700 soup kitchens, food banks and charities in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

If your organization is interested in connecting with Feeding South Florida for either volunteering or food donations, please contact .

This episode’s book: Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life by Mark Freedman

Livelihood: Create What’s Next On Your Personal Career Path with host Marcy Rosenbaum: Wed 9:00 am GST; Thurs 7:00 pm EST on Radio Ear Network.

Related Links

Encore Careers: a website for the growing network of people who want work that matters in the second half of life
Civic Ventures: working to define the second half of life as a time for individual and social renewal
Sound Bite: Producer Trina Sargalski’s story on Brian Phelan’s food rescue

Just because a job or position doesn’t exist where you currently work doesn’t mean you can’t do it…

Aspiring writers, musicians, photographers and producers are no longer beholden to “the studios” to provide the equipment, produce and finance a project. That technology is available on your personal computer, iPad—even on your telephone.

Trina Sargalski grew up in Miami.  She transitioned from a career in education to a career as a freelance writer and radio producer/reporter.  She shares with us the personal career path she’s developed that incorporates her passions for “good food and good stories.”

Today, she’s creating audio stories about South Florida for Under the Sun on WLRN 91.3 FM, South Florida’s NPR station.  She also writes and produces media for Miami Dish, a website about “everything edible and local in Miami.” She demonstrates that you can create the job you want, once you understand what it’s possible to do.

Dr. Janet Shefts has been a successful chiropractor for 25 years. An elite athlete in college, she was able to combine her passion for sports and wellness into a satisfying livelihood.

When she began facing debilitating pain from prior sports injuries and rehabilitative surgeries, she sought resources that would help her nutritionally and organically.

She first became interested in the healing properties of chocolate when she found it helped her own health and rehabilitation.The Journal of Nutrition paper “Food of the Gods: Cure for Humanity? A Cultural History of the Medicinal and Ritual Use of Chocolate” offers a history of the the medicinal use of cacao, or chocolate. When she found a specialty cold-processed dark chocolate with strong antioxidant benefits, she tried it herself. Her successful experience led not only to her improved health, but to a business opportunity that enhances and enriches her professional life.

Join host Marcy Rosenbaum as she discovers the healing power of chocolate with Dr. Janet Shefts, and does field research into the world of chocolate entrepreneurship at the International Chocolate Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables Florida. These  ”chocolatiers”   are artists, activists and environmentalists, and all are creating innovative career paths involving chocolate…..

Dr. Janet Shefts has been an owner and partner of Central Park Chiropractic in New York City for 25 years, and founder of The Wellness Chocolate Center. For more information about the healthy chocolates, click here: Wellness Chocolate NYC

You and also check out the fast and physical game of  Team Handball (imagine a blend of soccer, lacrosse here basketball, volleyball and softball) here: USA Team Handball 

 Livelihood: Create What’s Next On Your Personal Career Path with host Marcy Rosenbaum: Wed 9:00 am GST; Thurs 7:00 pm EST on Radio Ear Network; stay connected on www.LivelihoodShow.com

RELATED LINKS

Chocolate Festival interviews:

Oliver Kita, fine chocolatier, Oliver Kita Chocolates
Gia Pedroso, business owner of company that puts images on chocolate, Sweet Personalities
Susan Garcia, architect turned chocolatier, Cacao Art
Wendy Sorrel,chocolate and gift basket maker, owner of Wendy’s Chocolates in Homestead
Santiago Peralta, founder of Pacari Chocolate in Ecuador

Chocolate ratings at Seventy Percent