Test Drive Before Buying
Sabbaticals help you recharge and do recon on future career adventures
I went on a month-long sabbatical ten years ago. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. For eight years I’d been chasing the next rung on the corporate ladder like a dog chasing cars. While I’d experienced success, the work started to feel meaningless and my personal life was a bit drab. I felt boring and like a Southwest Airlines commercial, I needed to get away. That sabbatical was just what the corporate grind doctor prescribed. It helped me recharge and provided me an opportunity to learn about a new career path in the wine business before leaping in blindly.
THE TRIP
I drove from the East Coast to the West Coast and back again. I traversed 25 states in 25 days driving 9,000 miles. I rented two rental cars. I crossed 10 mountain ranges. I visited friends and spent time with family all across the US. Heck, my parents joined me for nearly 3,000 miles of the trip. For the purpose of this post, I did reconnaissance for a potential career move in the wine business.
WHY GO?
I told all but those closest to me that the trip was purely a personal pilgrimage. It was the road trip I should have taken right out of college. It was about reconnecting with friends, enjoying time with family, and seeing random tourist sights like the world’s largest ball of yarn. In my pursuit up the career mountain, I’d become less connected to who and what I’d loved. The trip had an additional purpose.
I was interested in a career in the wine business, but was unsure if I should consider it more seriously. I have been passionate about wine since I was gifted a bottle of Dom Perignon by a club member when I was a golf course superintendent. (To be clear, I can’t afford to drink Dom, especially twenty years ago when I made a hair less than $15/hr.) Back then, I wondered if I should consider a career in viticulture while I mowed golf greens, but chose to focus on finance instead. I routinely explored potential career leaps during the years immediately preceding my sabbatical. I’d check the Wine Jobs job board between meetings and crushing Excel financial models. Thus, I planned to explore life in the wine and spirits business firsthand on the trip.
BUT HOW?
Lucky for me, I had a few acquaintances in the wine industry. A mentor worked at a large, national distributor and a former colleague worked at E.&J. Gallo Winery. Plus, one of my best friends lived in Portland, Oregon, a stone's throw from the Willamette Valley, one of my favorite American wine regions. I knew just enough people either in or near the wine biz to weave in some “career exploration” stops along the way. All I had to do was reach out to them and ask for a favor.
PEOPLE WANT TO HELP; DON’T FLAKE
I reached out to my network and asked them to connect with me on my journey. I told them when I’d be in their neighborhood and asked if we could connect in person so I could see first hand what they did. But I didn’t stop there. I asked who else in their network would be good to meet. Guess what. Everyone said yes and then some. Each one offered a bed for the night in their home knowing I’d be spending a bunch of time in hotels. Plus, they offered additional places to visit and their own connections to me.
THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME
It was the trip of a lifetime. I had fun but was quickly able to home in on my highest potential ways of hopping into the wine business, which I did twelve months later. I learned so much on my journey. Here are a few of the highlights.
First, it’s never too late to make a bold move. In Willamette, I met a number of folks from all walks of life who were relatively new to the wine industry. There was an ex-sales person who eschewed an opportunity to own part of a financial services firm. Instead, she packed up her car and fled Phoenix for Newburg, Oregon to manage a tasting room.
Don Hagge’s story is especially compelling. He is a former N.A.S.A. scientist turned winemaker. He started Vidon vineyards with his wife Vicki Lewis when he was 69 years old. I doubt Don remembers me. He was so gracious and encouraging. We talked about his background with N.A.S.A. and at UC Berkeley. We also talked about his love of Burgundy wines and how it was the inspiration for making wines in Oregon. I bought a few bottles and was emboldened. You can make a move at any age.
Next, document the journey. I wrote daily, documenting more than 200 pages about the trip. Some entries focused on recreation like the joy of skiing below zero at Breckenridge, seeing the Hoover Dam with my mom, or visiting the National D-Day Museum with my dad. Most entries captured the highlights and observations from the informational interviews I conducted. Good friends recommended documenting the trip. They were right. Who knows, maybe I’ll turn it into a book someday. The point is, you should document informational interviews you have in your own career adventures. Meet someone who you think is doing something interesting; write it down! There is a higher likelihood that you’ll remember the thoughts and take action if you do. It’s basically design thinking for your career.
Last, action the advice. Don’t waste your discovery. On the last leg of my trip, I met a highly accomplished oenophile: Eric Hemer. Eric has the rare distinction of being both a Master of Wine and a Master Sommelier. He told me all about his journey in wine. Most importantly, he recommended that I get certified myself. He recommended getting the introductory sommelier certification and WSET level 2. Doing so would help me home in on what I liked most about the wine business and show prospective employers in the industry that I was serious. That’s just what I did. I passed both tests and decided looking at the producer side was likely best.
PARTING THOUGHTS
The trip was magical, both for personal and professional reasons. I recharged. I learned about an industry of interest before jumping into it blindly. Nonetheless, you likely question whether this is something you could pull off. Here are a few parting thoughts.
Take Advantage of This Rare Benefit
Take a sabbatical if your company offers one. I don’t regret the decision one bit. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 11% of companies offer sabbaticals. It should be more. If you are one of the lucky few who works for a company that offers this benefit, get out there. Explore a hobby. Spend time with your family. Learn to bake bread. Expand your horizons. You’ll return to your job recharged. Or, you’ll find another path that could be worthwhile.
If your company doesn’t offer a sabbatical, build the case for it with your leaders. The data suggests that sabbaticals are great ways for loyal employees to recharge. They are great retention tools.
You Can Do It or Some Variation Thereof
Most people can do something like this. I get it, you’ve got bills to pay. Most Americans don’t have nearly enough savings. Or, maybe you’re afraid you’ll step off the corporate ladder. Again, I get it. I was too. Let me assuage your concerns. First, save up. I figured I could afford four weeks plus the travel expenses. Maybe you can muster one week. That’s great! Second, I didn’t fall off the corporate ladder when I did it. In fact, my managers were supportive. I just had to take a risk and ask. If you can’t take a full sabbatical, use some of your unused vacation time. According to the Pew Research Center, 46% of Americans leave vacation days on the table. Commit to using that time to a little exploration of your own.
Support Other’s Adventures
Whether affordability or time is a concern, maybe it will never be right for you. If so, encourage others to adventure. Encourage them to take time to explore new career directions. If a friend asks to meet someone in your network, help them. If they ask for some time on your calendar to share your own career adventures, oblige. I am incredibly grateful to those who met with me and introduced me to people in their network. In a future post, I will talk about how to be a courteous career adventurer and not abuse people’s networks.
Thanks again for reading. I know not everyone can take a sabbatical. To those that can, do it. To those who aspire to, find ways to carve out time for exploration. You will not regret it. As Steven Spielberg said, “Listen to the whispers.” You have to actively listen for them to know what to do.
Speaking of future posts, I’ve got the first few stories committed to share in the coming weeks. We will be hearing from a doctor turned honey maker, a Ph.D who gave up life in academia, and more. Stay tuned!