Crossroads to Success

Each of these three Southwest Floridians faced life-altering adversity and overcame it by reinventing their careers.

It’s a path that many would prefer to avoid, but with today’s economic woes and an increasing number of people losing their jobs, many are seeking new careers.

Leaving behind a lifetime in one profession can be scary, but
attitudes toward career-hopping are much more open than they used to be, says Lois A. Bolin, a Naples-based consultant and executive coach. "Nobody looks at it as if it’s bad anymore," she says.

And, as our three subjects tell it, the change has been very rewarding. Here are their stories.

The Sky’s The Limit

John Luvera was a partner in Fort Myers-based mortgage and title companies when he realized the housing market was beginning to tank. Faced with a 40 percent decrease in the mortgage business in 2006, Luvera sold his shares of both companies. He wasn’t sure what his next step would be.

From 1990 to 2003, he had worked in sales and special-events positions with companies such as Pepsi, Nestlé and Suntory, and he didn’t want to return to the structured environment of corporate America. Nor did he want to start a new business venture because of the economic uncertainty and time commitment. He already had learned what it was like to own a business.

"Yes, I was making a lot of money, but I was never off," he recalls. "I was very stressed out. You’re the accountant, you’re the HR director, you’re the marketing director."

Instead, he took a leap into the skydiving business. Luvera had already invested an estimated $15,000 to $18,000 into skydiving equipment, training and licensing. It was an activity he first tried in 1991, but he put it on hold until he was financially able to commit to the sport in 2004.

Now he’s a contractor with Skydive Air Adventures, a Clewiston outfit located 57 miles from his home in Fort Myers. He averages 20 to 30 jumps a week, mostly on weekends, and spends time during the week on business development. He organizes group packages, return programs, clinics and other events for beginners and more advanced skydivers.

"I could see me doing this for quite a while. It doesn’t feel like a job," he says.

Luvera has been at turning points before that called for him to pursue new careers, but he says he’s never felt lost and has remained optimistic. A key has been re-evaluating his goals every so often. In his 20 and 30s, Luvera was focused on climbing the corporate ladder and achieving financial success. Now, the 40-year-old desires to live comfortably and have his work be something he loves.

"Am I going to be Bill Gates? No. But that’s not my goal anymore," he says. "I would rather be really happy and have a balance in my life."

A Gamble Pays Off

Cindy Montgomery was living in California in 2005 when a car accident left her on life support and in a coma. The other driver hit her car head-on, she says, causing his vehicle to run over her car on the driver’s side. The left side of her body was crushed from head to toe.

"I have more metal in me than an airplane," she says.

She came out of the coma, but then had to learn to walk again. Standing for long hours was required in her job as a floor supervisor at a casino and hotel east of Sacramento, but that was now impossible. In addition, the mother of two was ending an abusive marriage.

Her circumstances propelled her to move to Florida, where relatives lived. "I went there trying to find a job and get on with my life," she says.

When she arrived in Southwest Florida in May 2007, finding a job proved difficult. Trauma in the housing market led to hiring freezes, and she was overqualified for many of the available entry-level positions.

Montgomery, 34, frequented the Port Charlotte location of the Career and Service Centers of Southwest Florida, which offer resources for job seekers as well as employers. She sometimes spent several hours a day there, scouring job listings and taking free workshops on everything from resumé writing to interviewing skills. She found temporary jobs, but nothing resulted in permanent work until the day she spotted a posting for a specialist at the career center.

"I knew I wanted to do something helping people. I was looking for any type of administrative job," she says. "Some of the ladies I fell in love with [at the center] encouraged me to go after this position."

In July 2007, three months after starting her search, Montgomery began work at the Port Charlotte center. She works with people in the welfare-transition program, helps those who have been laid off and others in their job hunts, teaches workshops for adults and teens, and connects people with other agencies offering aid.

Her new career fulfills her desire to help others and gives her a sense of accomplishment. "I have to say this is the best career I could have found," she says.

Montgomery estimates that she has assisted hundreds of people in the past year. "They come into my office and they’re crying, they’re upset, they’re depressed because of whatever happened. I try to lift them up and let them know there’s hope and there’s light at the end of the tunnel," she says.

"[I] turned everything negative I faced into a positive. That was my game plan, and it seems to be working so far," she says.

A Survivor

Bonnie Olson had already decided to make some career changes when fate stepped in and forced her hand.

Living in Cincinnati, she had spent five years traveling from coast to coast—often as much as three weeks every month—to train manufacturers to use her company’s software. Tired of being on the road, she and her husband moved in July 2001 to Florida, where she took a $30,000 pay cut for a job with a local nonprofit doing "soft skills" training, everything from employee orientations to creating PowerPoint presentations.

"It was a step down from what I had done prior," says Olson, now 59. "I was willing to do it. I was quite tired of traveling. I wanted to slow down."

On Jan. 29, 2002, within four weeks of starting the new job, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The organization told her it couldn’t hold her job open while she went through treatment, which included a lumpectomy the following month, followed by a dual mastectomy and then chemotherapy that lasted from April 2003 to September 2004.

"Here I was going through breast cancer; it was like, ‘How much more can somebody take?’" she recalls. "When I talked with the HR person who had called me, I said, ‘You know, the news of my breast cancer wasn’t nearly as devastating as the news that you couldn’t hold my job open.’ It truly took my breath away."

When the company she had left learned about her situation, it hired her back at her previous salary. A position was created for her to work as a consultant who would test software from her home. But less than a year later, the company’s sales dropped, and she was laid off.

Olson was able to finish a year and a half of treatment without working. "As devastating it was to have lost my job at that particular time, it allowed me to be able to take care of the job of healing," Olson says.

During that time, she joined groups including Susan G. Komen for the Cure Southwest Florida, a new affiliate of the national organization dedicated to ending breast cancer. As she neared the end of her treatment in September 2004, the group decided to hire an executive director, the only paid staff position. Olson applied and was hired. She started the job in November 2004.

"Since I had management experience and since I had worked for a nonprofit years and years ago, they decided to give me a chance."

She’s transferred her time-management skills to her new position and has continued to grow leadership abilities and newfound strengths, such as fundraising. In the three and a half years with her at its helm, the affiliate’s revenue has grown from $275,000 to $1.3 million. It awarded $822,000 in grants in April 2008, up from $80,000 in 2005, and it has three paid staff members, including Olson.

"Doors have opened for me that maybe would not have opened for me had I not gone through this experience,"
she says.

They also might not have opened if she hadn’t volunteered while she was unemployed and undergoing treatment. Olson believes volunteering helps job-seekers, no matter the industry.

"There are skills [nonprofit organizations] need that you have. To keep your skills sharpened, volunteer so that you can keep active," she says. "If you can say you were doing something during that time, then I would think an employer would look more favorably at that."