Economy prompts some to try entirely new career
| Friday, Jul 10 2009 05:15 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Aug 19 2009 12:58 PM
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Jenn Ireland / The Californian Tom and Marilyn Balfour opened the Buttercream Bakery and Cafe in March after years of working in the roofing business. The Balfours made the drastic change from roofing to baking after the economy took a turn for the worse and gave them the opportunity to reinvent themselves.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian Tom and Marilyn Balfour opened the Buttercream Bakery and Cafe in March after years of working in the roofing business. The Balfours made the drastic change from roofing to baking after the economy took a turn for the worse and gave them the opportunity to reinvent themselves.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian Tom and Marilyn Balfour opened the Buttercream Bakery and Cafe in March after years of working in the roofing business. The Balfours made the drastic change from roofing to baking after the economy took a turn for the worse and gave them the opportunity to reinvent themselves.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian Tom and Marilyn Balfour opened the Buttercream Bakery and Cafe in March after years of working in the roofing business. The Balfours made the drastic change from roofing to baking after the economy took a turn for the worse and gave them the opportunity to reinvent themselves.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian Tom and Marilyn Balfour opened the Buttercream Bakery and Cafe in March after years of working in the roofing business. The Balfours made the drastic change from roofing to baking after the economy took a turn for the worse and gave them the opportunity to reinvent themselves.
Marilyn and Tom Balfour were lifelong roofers. Now, they're full-time bakers.
The couple owned Class A Roofing for 17 years. But when the economy took a turn for the worse, they closed that business and opened a new one: Buttercream Bakery and Cafe.
Marilyn has always had a passion for baking, and she wanted to open her own bakery, serving cupcakes, cookies and other sweets, as well as breakfast and lunch sandwiches.
"I've been thinking about this for a while," she said. And if it hadn't been for the recession, "this wouldn't have happened so soon."
When they closed the roofing business in January, they had already found a location for the bakery. And since it opened at 3825 Ming Ave. in March, the Balfours have been fortunate to have family members help with decorating and menu design.
"We're just starting to get some regulars," Marilyn Balfour said. "Our name is getting out there."
The Balfours are just one example of those who have had to switch careers with the economic downturn.
A quarterly survey by Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc., a Chicago-based outplacement consulting firm, found that between April and June, about 37 percent of 3,000 job seekers surveyed switched industries to land their new jobs.
From January to March, 42 percent of those surveyed were switching industries.
"No question, people need to expand the scope of their search," said John Challenger, chief executive officer of the company. "In better times you could be more narrowly focused. It has changed to people being open to a range of ways of expanding your search."
For some people, that search could lead to a more unconventional career.
Michael Ryan owned a real estate company in Bakersfield until his speciality, land development, became "pretty nonexistent" in the area, he said.
A little over a year ago, he saw a TV commercial for P90X, a fitness and health program. He started using it, and a couple weeks later he became interested in the business side of the company, he said.
"I remember thinking 'This makes a lot of sense. I don't know what it is but it makes a lot of sense to me,'" he said.
For the last year, Ryan has worked as an independent beachbody coach, helping 500 to 600 people nationwide lose weight.
For Ryan, the best part of switching careers was he now believes he does something that improves lives.
For others, the recession brings along an opportunity to open their own business. According to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc., about 9 percent of the 3,000 people surveyed between April and June started their own business.
That's what Carl Salyards did. He spent six years working with handicapped kids as an instructional aide. But with budget cuts, Salyards knew his job could be at risk.
"There was no future at where I was at," he said.
He left his job in February, and in April opened Retro Active Sports, 5610 District Blvd., which sells used sports apparel and equipment.
He said Bakersfield is a huge sports town, and he thought it could use a used sporting goods store in a challenging economy. He worked for such a store in high school.
Owning his own business is more stressful than just going to and from work every day. However, "I'm settled with what I'm doing," he said. "It's just more stress. It's a different kind of stress."
And when referring to his old job, he said: "But at least I don't get beat up all day."
