For those of us who are who have been a family caregiver, we know just how difficult life can be, especially if you are juggling a career or your family along with it. According to multiple studies, close to 40% of them lose a job, and close to 50% of them spend close to 30 hours per week “caregiving” a loved one.
It’s not an easy situation to be placed in — your life stretched to the max, feeling alone, isolated from friends and social activities, and yet, for many, the things that used to matter, don’t matter so much anymore. We are tired, overworked, and overwhelmed with the duties of our lives.
It was December 2008 — right after the economic downturn when I lost my six-figure corporate job. I was conveniently down-sized because of a lack of compassion from my employer, due to absences that had to be taken to take my mother to doctor appointments. She had spent weeks in the hospital with vascular issues. I had to move her four times in the course of five years (because I didn’t get it right the first time), and there seemed to be one crisis at a time in caring for her. I always tell people that I am truly the poster child for someone who didn’t know what I was doing, and who didn’t get it right up front. We were faced with legal issues, financial challenges, and most importantly, I gave up my own life to care for my mother. My life spun out of control, and I was left at the age of 52, being unemployed in a digital media world, (where 30-year-olds would work for half of what I was making) in a tough economy in a recession.
I will always remember those days as likely the hardest time of my life — being unemployed, having to somehow keep it together for my mother, and then do whatever I could to survive. As I began to explore what my next job would be like, the thought of going back to that dog-eat-dog high pressure, ruthless, corporate advertising sales world made me sick to my stomach. Caring for my mom compelled me to live a bigger part of myself. I realized more and more that the real meaning of life was more about making a difference, in making the world a better place for others. My thoughts were more about if Mom was eating right that day, or how could I bring some joy to her life. I realized more and more that it was time to reinvent myself from a corporate slave — to an individual who needed to make my life count a lot more.
First, I had to reevaluate my life, my values, my world. It was truly humbling. Yet what I did learn is that I learned to value things that were much more important than hitting a sales goal or driving a fancy car. I realized just how much my life had transformed by being a caregiver, and how I learned to help others be the best advocate they can be for their parent or loved one.
Since I have been in the eldercare industry as the Founder and CEO of Answers for Elders, it strikes me how many that I meet in our industry that come from family caregiving backgrounds. It’s also interesting to me just how many of us have stories to share that are similar, and how we all end up serving seniors in various ways.
Here are ten options that your caregiver experience will transfer over easily to the workplace (salary ranges are national averages, according to www.payscale.com. Your location will impact the actual salary):
1. Professional Home Caregiver
Currently in the USA, there is a huge shortage of professional caregivers. Imagine building a relationship with another senior with whom you can share stories, run errands for, or help them with bathing or dressing. You can make their favorite meal or read a book to them. ($16,947 – $34,303)
2. Open a Home Care Agency
There is a significant need as more and more seniors are staying home to operate a home care agency. If owning your own business has always appealed to you and you want to continue to work with and serve the senior community. In Washington State you need to be certified, and as a result, I recommend you work for a home care provider and learn the ropes first. Once you have some experience under your belt, you can then open your own agency, or purchase a home care franchise, that will run you around $40,000 or so.
Home care agencies have a huge upside. The market is growing exponentially, and it is an underserved area. Your biggest challenge won’t be finding clients, but instead it will be making sure that you have enough qualified caregivers out there to work for you. They are in high demand, and you will need to provide a compensation package that will appeal to caregivers to want to work for you over your competition.
3. Geriatric Care Manager or Placement Advisor
With proper training and education for geriatric care management, or housing placement, you can be a great advocate for a senior and work specifically with their families at times of transition — whether it is the first time they are attempting to make a change- in a crisis, or you can work with them remotely, if family lives away from their senior loved one. You can utilize your experience in caring for your own loved one by guiding others in the crossroads that other families are facing. ($29,528 – $100,906)
4. Real Estate Agent
As seniors living at home are facing a living situation change, you can take your skills and specialize in helping seniors who are facing living transitions. ($23,617 – $181,665) Of course, expanding your service to seniors to include many additional services with a senior move will make you even more appealing to families who are moving. Be innovative. Take the time to build a strong network of providers where you can all benefit from one-another.
5. Estate Sales Manager
If organization and project management skills are your forte, helping a senior to downsize or helping a family after a loved one passes is a great way to earn a living and use your own experience in the process. Build up a network of eBay sellers, repair shops, marketing vehicles, online knowledge, moving and storage companies. Create a turnkey business that can help seniors in their times of transition. ($24,832 – $122,554)
6. Financial and Fiduciary Manager
Maybe you have accounting skills or experience from your previous employment. Or you just have a passion for ensuring money is properly managed and distributed accurately. Do you know how many families are looking to help their senior parents pay bills or help them in the day to day financial management of their daily living? This could be the perfect solution! ($37,099 – $119,273)
7. Senior Move Specialist
For some caregivers, the tasks of relocating their parent into assisted living or skilled care centers were overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. If, instead, you feel valued or excited at remembering all the things you needed to do (garage sales, dividing possessions or family heirlooms to family members, figuring out what furniture will work in the new living space, etc.) this could be an excellent next career path for you. ($20,895 – $44,485)
8. Dietician/Nutritionist
Do you enjoy cooking? Did you thrive in learning how to cook for your senior parent? You can get some formal training and start making meals for seniors. Or you can work with families to design a diet that will work well within the patient’s restrictions while still being enjoyable to make and eat. Maybe it’s also working in retirement communities as a cook or server part-time. ($35,479 – $121,610)
9. Funeral Pre-Planning Representative
Once obtaining an insurance license, you can work with other families to pre-pay their funeral and burial expenses. It’s a huge peace of mind for other seniors to relieve their families of having to bear that expense when they pass, and they can be remembered in the way they choose to be. ($27,839 – $68,165)
10. Aging in Place Specialist
There are many types of services now available for seniors who still live at home that could be a great way to reinvent your career. This includes home modifications, universal design, interior design, home monitoring, organization services, meal preparation and planning, house cleaning, yard maintenance, etc.
Some additional pieces of advice:
If you decide to work for yourself or open a business, make sure that
- You have a solid presence online and are solid in social media.
- Make sure you have enough financial assets to pay for a minimum of one-year of your living expenses
- Have a solid business plan that includes multiple income streams, a solid financial plan, and minimize expenses
- No matter what you do, the most important skill you will need is to sell yourself. If sales are not your forte’ then you need to start somewhere. Get special training on learning how to sell you and your business.
Losing a job can be devastating, but sometimes it takes the hard times to bring you through to even better things happening in your life. The hard times are also opportunities to gain great seeds of wisdom that we can benefit from in the future. You also can determine friends and family that will surround you with love, prayers, and an ear to listen.
Just remember, this too shall pass. You may be down for a moment, but I have no doubt, your caregiving experience will help you discover a strength you never realized you had before. As you fall, you shall also rise, as the phoenix does from the ashes, and it will make your life even better than it was before.
