Quintessential Jill-of-all-trades, Jo Laurie has experienced many career changes in her life. As a young student in her native England, Jo was pushed into the empirical sciences in school and specialized early on in chemistry, physics, and math. She is dyslexic and these disciplines were meant to help her focus on her strengths with numbers and equations.

Jo was successful in the sciences and in the British system under Margaret Thatcher; she was paid to attend university (free tuition plus a stipend) and earned a BSc (Hons), a degree with honors in Psychology. While Jo was stimulated intellectually, she yearned for a more creative outlet. So she left England and headed to New York City to reinvent herself and test-drive a new world. Read Full Story

One of the first steps in finding a career that you love it to identify what you are passionate about. Many people have a hard time identifying this so creating a vision board can be a way to help you focus. This treasure map, or creativity collage is simple to construct and can really help you identify what you are most attracted to that could lead to a career.

Start by going through your favorite magazines, online sources, and newspapers and clip/print articles, photos and images that please you. Think broadly and collect clips that reflect where you want to vacation, changes you want to see in your life, and perhaps even images that illustrate who you want to become.

But before you start cutting up your favorite magazines, take some time to sit quietly and set your intention. Ask yourself what you really want and give yourself permission to dream big and use your imagination. The vision board is a creative process so you have to be willing to check your ego at the door let your mind explore.

Take the time to find images that really speak to you and don’t forget to include words or phrases that strike your fancy. As you go through your pile of images, eliminate those that no longer speak to you. Begin to organize your clips into theme piles that you identify. Some examples are: health, career, and relationships but you can create a vision board with any intention you want.

Paste your images on a piece of poster board or card stock and arrange them so they tell your desired story. I often paste a photo of myself in the center to really help me see myself in the vision. You should hang your vision board in a place where you will see it every day so you can reaffirm your goals.

There are many different types of vision boards and each can help you reach a unique goal.

The I Know Exactly What I Want vision board helps you set down very clear pictures of what you desire. Perhaps you want to start a new business, or move to a new home. This vision board will help you manifest a very specific thing.

If you are not as clear about what you want but know you are looking for change, assemble an Opening and Allowing vision board. The images of what you like might seem random at first but with reflection, you will begin to see why these graphics called out to you.  This process is more about learning who you are than setting specific goals and it might just teach you a little bit about yourself and your passions.

The Theme vision board has clear parameters and intentions such as working towards a promotion on the job or a special event on your calendar. Your theme could also be eating in a healthier way or quitting smoking and starting an exercise regimen, for example.

These vision board ideas came from Christine Kane who has written a terrific book The Complete Guide to Vision Boards that will give you some step-by-step instructions and creative ideas to get you started. The vision board is a powerful tool that helps you identify a dream and gives you the inspiration to work towards that satisfying goal. You now have a practical tool to help you discover your passion.

An academic by training, Jacqueline Edelberg earned her PhD in Political Science and taught at the University of Osnabrück in Germany as a Fulbright scholar. After the international teaching stint, Jacqueline returned to her beloved Chicago with her husband, Andrew ready to give birth to their first child. After a very complicated and difficult delivery, Jacqueline was relieved and fortunate to have a healthy baby.  The experience ignited her maternal instincts and she wanted to focus completely on nurturing her infant daughter for the next six months.

While Jacqueline relished her new role as a mother, the pangs of career guilt began to set in for this professor-turned-mom who craved intellectual stimulation and challenge. Struggling with the proverbial question of “What do I want to be when I grow up?” Jacqueline took the advice of a dear relative who shared that raising a child is a special time in a mother’s life, and a very short one at that. She cautioned Jacqueline to enjoy this time with her daughter and to be confident that the work would always be there when she was ready to go back. Little did Jacqueline know that her future career would be to mobilize a grass roots movement rehabilitating neighborhood schools in her Chicago community and across the nation. Read Full Story

Born the youngest of five children in the small town of Sumter, South Carolina, Ginger Hodge was a bit shy as a child.  With the love and support of her 3^rd Grade teacher, Ginger found the confidence to embrace her imagination and create unique ways to entertain herself and those around her.  Those who know her best love that she always seems to have a new song, game, joke or story to share.

Ginger landed her first job performing singing-balloon-a-grams while attending the College of Charleston. After graduation, she struggled to find her own way by dabbling with a few restaurant, real estate, and ad agency jobs. When she finally found her niche, in the movie industry, she was able to use her unique passion for entertaining others to market family-friendly films. But Ginger’s true passion for living wasn’t fully ignited until she published her first children’s book: When Donkeys Fly. Read Full Story

Finding it hard to sit still at a desk job, Anne Roos had many occupations over the years before she found her dream career. She was a high school teacher in northern California but didn’t feel supported by the administration and soon burned out because it was not a good fit. All along she had been pursuing her passion on the weekends as a harpist for weddings, concerts and special events. But could she actually make money as a full-time musician? Read Full Story

When Pam Beattie, a stay at home Mom, married for 20 years had a yearning for something more, she focused on her passion for French furniture to launch a new business. Venetian Décor is her boutique upholstery and design house that specializes in creating down duvets, custom filled seat cushions and reproduction French furniture, to name just a few of her offerings. Pam is the ultimate recycler using vintage fur coats to bring a new life to these heirlooms and re-purpose them for something new and unique.

Pam designs custom pieces that act as windows in time and reflect old world craftsmanship, dedication, and attention to detail. Venetian Décor does not promote the trapping and killing of animals but works exclusively with vintage fur coats to ensure that these historic resources are refashioned into useful and appreciated products. Read Full Story

Anne Shroeder has been through many transitions in her life but at age 50 she has now found her passion and peace with a dream career that will warm your heart. She splits her time between her web development business, Language Works and caring for 50+ animals in need of a home. Her animal sanctuary: Star Gazing Farm is also a non-profit organization and if that wasn’t enough, Anne is also refining her skills as a sheep shearer. Read Full Story

Mary Wasiak was raised in a conservative family that always encouraged her to pursue a practical career. She always knew that she would attend graduate school but found herself in law school without interest or aptitude because it would lead to a sensible career. Little did she know that teaching would turn out to be her dream job in the near future. Read Full Story

Many people look for new careers because they are unsatisfied with their jobs, not in touch with their passion, or completely burnt out. Rebecca Carlson was very happy with her career as an Art & Creative Director in the advertising world. She was playing to her strengths but feeling extremely run down, depressed and often unable to get out of bed which was unusual for this active, athletic and vibrant woman. Following a trip to Jamaica, her symptoms rapidly progressed to the point where she lost the feeling in her legs and found it difficult to grasp a pencil with her hand. She decided it was time to visit her doctor to see what was wrong – thinking she had pinched a nerve or something of that nature. After weeks of medical testing, countless MRIs, and two spinal taps, her doctors revealed the heartbreaking diagnosis… Multiple Sclerosis. Read Full Story

Ana Talukder Simpson was raised in an East Indian household where straight A’s were demanded, perfect SAT scores were expected, and an Ivy League education was the ONLY real education.  This all came from a place of love, but her parents really focused on academic greatness and equated it to success. She had always been drawn to and excelled in the creative arts, but lacked the joy that was supposed to be found in studying molecule arrangements or solving a proof.  Ana knew early on that she was not going to become the Doctor or Engineer that her parents had hoped for and decided that law school was in her future, which allowed her to major in Political Science and Philosophy and still use those skills for a realistic career.  Read Full Story