What do you do for a living?

[muxmax]

I’ll keep this very short, because I doubt it will win too much goodwill and support - I’m an accountant, who has worked in financial services for 35 years. That’s normally enough to see me standing alone at a dinner party!

On leaving school at 15 I got a job in a garage, because I always loved cars, and my plan was to go that way. However, my exam results were good, and I had the opportunity to go back to school and so I did, then got a degree, and then qualified as an accountant (but always had cars to play with).

I cut my teeth in manufacturing and then became a management consultant with PWC, focusing on business turnarounds (and I loved doing this). Joined Barclays to set up a part of their IT organisation as a stand alone business, then did another global company turnaround (not as a consultant, but someone with skin in the game) which was quite lucrative, then joined Amex to help transform their IT functions. For the last twelve years I’ve been CEO of the UK’s largest cash processing company.

I retire at the end of next year, and the build of my overland truck is currently underway and my wife and I plan to travel around Europe (initially) and see where we end up.

With your intro I thought you’d say you were responsible for IA’s customer relations and production coordination.

 

[renli3d]

I do a bit of consulting for several entities on the side. I am responsible for North American NFRC certifications and testing for a window and door manufacturer. I also work as a CNC and IT technician for a cabinet shop. I also do building science consulting to help builders design a durable and comfortable structure. I also do 3D architectural modeling and renders for an architectural firm.

I also repair home appliances and automobiles, focusing on 4x4s, especially land rovers. Just got a 2nd LR3 which I'll fix up and flip.

I do metal fabrication and wood working. I help friends and relatives build houses/barns. I'm building my own house right now.

I created and run a blog on how to import vehicles into the USA.

I used to do event photography. Not recently though.

Lastly, I work full-time in doing something else.

 

[Michael Gain]

Great thing about an international forum: all walks of life come together for a common interest. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience here.

I'm an Army dude and do army dude things. Looking forward to continued travels as the Army sends us to interesting and new places. Approaching 20 years and will keep going as long as my body (and my wife) allows me.

 

[emax]

That’s normally enough to see me standing alone at a dinner party!

Oh gosh, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

But here we're not on a dinner party. You're among like-minded people!

Your plans a great, so don't worry - be happy!

 

[Max]

Design, is what I did for a living. The rest below is just the story.


I have just sold a little business that I bought as a wind down from an extensive life in the design arena. Started as a message boy after just turning 15 years of age, at an advertising agency. The reason for leaving school at such a young age was because my reading ability was not up to speed, being classified as a dyslexic I traveled through life seeing more than reading, if that makes sense I became a visual artist at a very young age with my parents help and it was them who helped find an industry that would help me be successful. The advertising industry did not judge and it was an industry where you could start at the bottom. Message boys, before the courier companies took, that chance that I had away. It allowed me to prosper as a commercial artist putting together Coles New World advertisements and then developing skills in the design areas of the industry. I was not able to go to college because of my reading issues but ended up doing part time teaching there in my early twenties. My career/life was/is one huge learning curve with not one day the same. Two of my children suffered the same issue and it was a time when eyes were being diagnosed differently, it was a focus performance issue, which is how it was explained to me. I was and my children, given the ability to read with glasses that brought the words alive. I started reading the dictionary. My long distance vision was out there and when asked by the Optometrist what line on the chart I could see clearly, I said it was printed in Great Britain, he said how do you know that. It was printed on the chart's bottom right hand corner in about 10pt.

Design to me was far more fun than advertising and I worked at becoming a corporate designer by being given opportunities to be guided by very successful practitioners. Working on brand building, annual reports for industry leaders in the electricity and mining sectors, and corporate imaging for two universities [UQ and Griffith] where I was lecturing at one part time and would be asked to speak to students in my field at the other plus Colleges throughout the city of Brisbane. Packaging was a huge part of graphic design and I had the opportunity to work for Kelloggs and Sanitarium. Kellogg's on a national and international scale by designing a full range of their products for the Asian communities, fun. I would for a lot of my packaging time with Kelloggs stay in Sydney for days. I traveled to Sydney one day, and meet with the client in the flight lounge then caught the same plane back, the attendant asked for my boarding pass, after handing it to her she said this is for the flight down, I said well hang on it must be in another pocket. I still have a Kellogg's pack out there called Guardian and that was in the brown paper bag that I was carrying onto the plane, very suspect. I was designing it and saying to myself that this is for old people and now I am right there with them, two stents later, it has psyllium a grain husk that is supposed to lower cholesterol. Exhibition design was a huge thing in the industry with clients traveling the world selling their products, some forty years ago I was working for an international client called Lindgren, creating an exhibition design for a massive food exhibition in Frankfurt, $400,000 budget. I did industrial design for some clients including cardboard pack construction and plastic bottle design for milks and juices, some still on selves out there.

I started a business called Nous in 2000, it is functioning still today as it was started, as a Brand building company. When I reached fifty years old I suffered a neck injury due to a surfboard bashing me on the head and then having to have a disc removed, between C4/5, so I started to wind down. I was traveling 100kms each way to work and stopping over some nights but it was becoming more of a burden than fun so I stopped and bought a little business that I mentioned, plus tutoring at the University Sunshine Coast, now I have stopped again. But as most of us you never stop, just change direction.

Nous and I have come together in recent times, branding and then packaging design for a local distillery, Sunshine and Sons. So the fun continues...In 1981 my wife and I took off around Australia in an MQ Patrol straight six diesel with a four-man tent and under and over, 20 gauge bottom with a 22 on top plus all the fishing and surfing gear... can't wait for my Grenadier.

 

[Tazzieman]

I had the opportunity to work for Kelloggs and Sanitarium.

You may or may not have read of the early history of the company.
If not , and given my interest in healthy living here is a link
john-harvey-kellogg
And whilst I could post this paragraph in the Chuckle in your day thread , I'll pop it here instead!
"To his point, the saga of corn flakes, more importantly, represented to John Harvey the battle against one of life’s deadliest vices: masturbation. As a meticulously manufactured “clean” food, Kellogg had intended for corn flakes to rid people of their carnal desires.

Terrified and disgusted by sex nearly all his life — he never even consummated his own relationship with his wife — Kellogg launched a violent pseudoscientific anti-masturbation crusade. He equated fondness for spicy foods, round shoulders, and “boldness” with signs of a chronic masturbator. He concluded that “such a victim literally dies by his own hand.”

Kellogg encouraged parents to tie their children’s hands to their bedposts or to circumcise their teenage boys. An even more aggressive tactic saw the foreskin of a young man’s penis sewed shut to prevent erections. For young girls, he recommended pouring carbolic acid on their clitorises.
Of course, it was Kellogg’s hope that a purer diet, provided by his Corn Flakes, might suffice as a less gruesome method of controlling children’s sexual desire."

- So next time you're sitting down at the breakfast table, spare a thought for the old puritan. People like him still exist.

 

[Max]

provided by his Corn Flakes, might suffice as a less gruesome method of controlling children’s sexual desire."

- So next time you're sitting down at the breakfast table, spare a thought for the old puritan. People like him still exist.

It stopped me until about fifteen I think it was when I started......eating muesli

 

[DaveB]

You may or may not have read of the early history of the company.
If not , and given my interest in healthy living here is a link
john-harvey-kellogg
And whilst I could post this paragraph in the Chuckle in your day thread , I'll pop it here instead!
"To his point, the saga of corn flakes, more importantly, represented to John Harvey the battle against one of life’s deadliest vices: masturbation. As a meticulously manufactured “clean” food, Kellogg had intended for corn flakes to rid people of their carnal desires.

Terrified and disgusted by sex nearly all his life — he never even consummated his own relationship with his wife — Kellogg launched a violent pseudoscientific anti-masturbation crusade. He equated fondness for spicy foods, round shoulders, and “boldness” with signs of a chronic masturbator. He concluded that “such a victim literally dies by his own hand.”

Kellogg encouraged parents to tie their children’s hands to their bedposts or to circumcise their teenage boys. An even more aggressive tactic saw the foreskin of a young man’s penis sewed shut to prevent erections. For young girls, he recommended pouring carbolic acid on their clitorises.
Of course, it was Kellogg’s hope that a purer diet, provided by his Corn Flakes, might suffice as a less gruesome method of controlling children’s sexual desire."

- So next time you're sitting down at the breakfast table, spare a thought for the old puritan. People like him still exist.

Sanitarium is wholly owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church and so is exempt from paying tax.
A bit of an advantage over the opposition

 

[Tazzieman]

Sanitarium is wholly owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church and so is exempt from paying tax.

I'm outraged! How dare they...not.
Kelloggs weetbix it is then. Hmmmph!

 

[bigleonski]

Design, is what I did for a living. The rest below is just the story.


I have just sold a little business that I bought as a wind down from an extensive life in the design arena. Started as a message boy after just turning 15 years of age, at an advertising agency. The reason for leaving school at such a young age was because my reading ability was not up to speed, being classified as a dyslexic I traveled through life seeing more than reading, if that makes sense I became a visual artist at a very young age with my parents help and it was them who helped find an industry that would help me be successful. The advertising industry did not judge and it was an industry where you could start at the bottom. Message boys, before the courier companies took, that chance that I had away. It allowed me to prosper as a commercial artist putting together Coles New World advertisements and then developing skills in the design areas of the industry. I was not able to go to college because of my reading issues but ended up doing part time teaching there in my early twenties. My career/life was/is one huge learning curve with not one day the same. Two of my children suffered the same issue and it was a time when eyes were being diagnosed differently, it was a focus performance issue, which is how it was explained to me. I was and my children, given the ability to read with glasses that brought the words alive. I started reading the dictionary. My long distance vision was out there and when asked by the Optometrist what line on the chart I could see clearly, I said it was printed in Great Britain, he said how do you know that. It was printed on the chart's bottom right hand corner in about 10pt.

Design to me was far more fun than advertising and I worked at becoming a corporate designer by being given opportunities to be guided by very successful practitioners. Working on brand building, annual reports for industry leaders in the electricity and mining sectors, and corporate imaging for two universities [UQ and Griffith] where I was lecturing at one part time and would be asked to speak to students in my field at the other plus Colleges throughout the city of Brisbane. Packaging was a huge part of graphic design and I had the opportunity to work for Kelloggs and Sanitarium. Kellogg's on a national and international scale by designing a full range of their products for the Asian communities, fun. I would for a lot of my packaging time with Kelloggs stay in Sydney for days. I traveled to Sydney one day, and meet with the client in the flight lounge then caught the same plane back, the attendant asked for my boarding pass, after handing it to her she said this is for the flight down, I said well hang on it must be in another pocket. I still have a Kellogg's pack out there called Guardian and that was in the brown paper bag that I was carrying onto the plane, very suspect. I was designing it and saying to myself that this is for old people and now I am right there with them, two stents later, it has psyllium a grain husk that is supposed to lower cholesterol. Exhibition design was a huge thing in the industry with clients traveling the world selling their products, some forty years ago I was working for an international client called Lindgren, creating an exhibition design for a massive food exhibition in Frankfurt, $400,000 budget. I did industrial design for some clients including cardboard pack construction and plastic bottle design for milks and juices, some still on selves out there.

I started a business called Nous in 2000, it is functioning still today as it was started, as a Brand building company. When I reached fifty years old I suffered a neck injury due to a surfboard bashing me on the head and then having to have a disc removed, between C4/5, so I started to wind down. I was traveling 100kms each way to work and stopping over some nights but it was becoming more of a burden than fun so I stopped and bought a little business that I mentioned, plus tutoring at the University Sunshine Coast, now I have stopped again. But as most of us you never stop, just change direction.

Nous and I have come together in recent times, branding and then packaging design for a local distillery, Sunshine and Sons. So the fun continues...In 1981 my wife and I took off around Australia in an MQ Patrol straight six diesel with a four-man tent and under and over, 20 gauge bottom with a 22 on top plus all the fishing and surfing gear... can't wait for my Grenadier.

Small world, we'd engaged Nous to do some work for the business I worked for.

 

[Max]

Small world, we'd engaged Nous to do some work for the business I worked for.

Six degrees of separation...how long ago big fella...have we crossed paths?

 

[bigleonski]

Six degrees of separation...how long ago big fella...have we crossed paths?

No mate - I didn't manage the marketing side of things, just everything else. I left that gig last month and am currently on the market.
They are a property development consultancy and are still current clients of Nous, but only for company branding, and you guys run the webpage.

 

[jamesfielding]

Hey crew,

This is a brilliant idea, its truly fascinating reading about everyone's path through life, although mine will currently be a bit shorter compared with some.

Went to school, wasn't planning on university but my father insisted saying, it is a must, so ended up studying Sports Biomedicine and Nutrition at Cardiff Metropolitan in Wales.
Young, eager and physically fit, figured Personal Training is where I wanted to go. Went out to Spain on a 6 week intense course to get fully qualified, thinking a life of helping people achieve their fitness goals was for me. Loved the people who wanted to improve, hated the people who wanted an easy/quick fix (which ended up being 95% of my clients), so quickly lost the love of that.

Then followed a lot of other graduates to London into recruitment. I was in a company that specifically focussed on financial positions within commodity trading companies, such as Shell, BP, Trafigura etc. Loved the meeting of nice people in big offices, hated the 200 calls a day targets. Made some money, moved back in with the parents to figure out what next.

Worked for around 18 months as a land surveyor, mostly doing topographical surveys and 3D building scanning for large scale construction projects, travelled a lot, but was definitely a day job type role, not a career.

Then met my now wife on Tinder (internet dating for the win!), who said her Brother-in-law was an electrician and was doing quite well for himself, so I needed to buck up my ideas, get a real career and get moving as I was getting old (25 I think at the time). So pivot again, a 6 month fast training course to get qualified as an electrician, begin working with a national house builder, go from there to an industrial firm wiring cranes and foundries (really good fun). Move to my Brother-in-laws company which is local electrician working on nice houses, but explain to him where I want to go with this career, he agrees, so November 2021 we rebrand, and now our main focus is designing and installing luxury lighting, electrics, CCTV, wifi and home automation within high end residential homes around the UK (mostly Cotswolds and Warwickshire). Now I am 4 days office, 1 day site work, mostly programming, but I still like to keep my eye in with anything particularly technical coming my way (set up of managed wifi services, lighting programming, 3phase UPS installs etc).

Second business which I am working on getting off the ground is the design and manufacture of LED light fittings so that the companies will be able to vertically integrate and allow us to offer custom designed lights as part of our services.

I love my job. I love meeting people and helping clients get the most from their homes / spaces, whilst also being able to see some epic homes!

 

[Logsplitter]

It stopped me until about fifteen I think it was when I started......eating muesli

A very late starter . One of my primary school mates used to quip that you could beat an egg but you couldn’t beat a good w—-

 

[Tazzieman]

A very late starter . One of my primary school mates used to quip that you could beat an egg but you couldn’t beat a good w—-

Ah boy's talk!
"You can go to sleep with the light on but not a hard on"

 

[Highwayman]

Hey crew,

This is a brilliant idea, its truly fascinating reading about everyone's path through life, although mine will currently be a bit shorter compared with some.

Went to school, wasn't planning on university but my father insisted saying, it is a must, so ended up studying Sports Biomedicine and Nutrition at Cardiff Metropolitan in Wales.
Young, eager and physically fit, figured Personal Training is where I wanted to go. Went out to Spain on a 6 week intense course to get fully qualified, thinking a life of helping people achieve their fitness goals was for me. Loved the people who wanted to improve, hated the people who wanted an easy/quick fix (which ended up being 95% of my clients), so quickly lost the love of that.

Then followed a lot of other graduates to London into recruitment. I was in a company that specifically focussed on financial positions within commodity trading companies, such as Shell, BP, Trafigura etc. Loved the meeting of nice people in big offices, hated the 200 calls a day targets. Made some money, moved back in with the parents to figure out what next.

Worked for around 18 months as a land surveyor, mostly doing topographical surveys and 3D building scanning for large scale construction projects, travelled a lot, but was definitely a day job type role, not a career.

Then met my now wife on Tinder (internet dating for the win!), who said her Brother-in-law was an electrician and was doing quite well for himself, so I needed to buck up my ideas, get a real career and get moving as I was getting old (25 I think at the time). So pivot again, a 6 month fast training course to get qualified as an electrician, begin working with a national house builder, go from there to an industrial firm wiring cranes and foundries (really good fun). Move to my Brother-in-laws company which is local electrician working on nice houses, but explain to him where I want to go with this career, he agrees, so November 2021 we rebrand, and now our main focus is designing and installing luxury lighting, electrics, CCTV, wifi and home automation within high end residential homes around the UK (mostly Cotswolds and Warwickshire). Now I am 4 days office, 1 day site work, mostly programming, but I still like to keep my eye in with anything particularly technical coming my way (set up of managed wifi services, lighting programming, 3phase UPS installs etc).

Second business which I am working on getting off the ground is the design and manufacture of LED light fittings so that the companies will be able to vertically integrate and allow us to offer custom designed lights as part of our services.

I love my job. I love meeting people and helping clients get the most from their homes / spaces, whilst also being able to see some epic homes!

Which end of the Cotswolds are you? I’m between Banbury and Chipping Norton ….

 

[jamesfielding]

Which end of the Cotswolds are you? I’m between Banbury and Chipping Norton ….

I’m in a village at the bottom of Bredon Hill

 

[Highwayman]

I’m in a village at the bottom of Bredon Hill

Small world! I’ll keep a look out

 

[Biohazard]

When I was eight years old, my mom bought a coffee table anatomy book, the contents of which I devoured from cover to cover. The heart in particular, with its valves, fibrous substructure, intertwined muscle fibers, electric circuitry, and fuel lines (coronary arteries) held immense fascination. "I'm going to be a heart surgeon!" I told my folks, to their knowing smiles.

A few years later I forgot about that bit, and became fascinated with flying, and for about 5 years pursued preparation for a business and commercial aviation degree, to the point of arranging a bush flying apprenticeship in Alaska for the summer after my first year of university.

That all came to a screeching halt when a family friend asked if I wanted to come observe he and his team perform...you guessed it, heart surgery. Flying got put on hold, and I threw myself into medical studies. Academic excellence opened doors, and providential encounters allowed me to hone my skills.

Now, 16 years of training after high school, covering general and trauma surgery, surgical critical care, and cardiothoracic surgery, I'm a few years into a cardiothoracic surgery career in a small town in the southeastern USA. I occasionally introduce myself to the locals as a mechanic or fancy plumber.

It's been a journey, with a lot of sickness, suffering, horrible tragedy, but also happy success and lives extended.

My down time is spent reading, exploring, raising three kids with my wife (also a physician) of 11 years, working in the third world on medical and surgical missions, and photographing along the way.

 

[emax]

Great.