If you follow my updates on Twitter or Facebook, you may have seen me talking about a temp “job” I am taking in March. One of the greatest advantages of working from anywhere as a Digital Nomad is that when strangely rare but fun opportunities come up, you can jump on them more easily than if you have a location-dependent job that you have to show up for every day.

When friends Cherie & Chris over at Tales from Technomadia posted that they needed a cat-sitter for 10 days or so, it was an easy one to jump at. The cat-sitting job is in the U.S. Virgin Islands!

I’ll be spending a couple of weeks with the girlfriend on the island of St. John in March, staying at their temporary winter place. Their Jeep will get us around on the small Caribbean island while they fly over to Texas to give their presentation on this very subject of Technomadism at SXSW. While I’d planned to go to SXSW as well, the opportunity for an almost free trip to a tropical paradise was too good to pass up this year.

Their pictures have been making me crazy (and are shown here on this post), especially now that I have to wait a few more weeks to get there!

I’ll be posting from there, as I’ll be working some of the time we’re there, just as I would be anywhere else with internet access. I’ll pack my usual single backpack that I call my “office” and will of course have plenty for the trip. I’ll post my minimalist packing method when I get a chance, as several of you have asked how I pack so light after my video last week.

Island Life by Technomadia

My new passport should get here before we leave, if we decide to go over to the nearby British Virgin Islands while we’re there. But much of this will be like my previous trips, where I just happen to be working in a different location. But you can be sure I’ll be getting some snorkeling and hiking in during the day! (I live a short walk from white sand beaches, so I already know not to do the laptop at the beach thing)

Rum is something like five bucks for a 55-gallon drum there, but I don’t drink. So I’ll be working in the evenings instead of taking advantage of that island deal.

2011 has started off well so far, with only a month down and already several projects in the works. I’ve done a lot behind the scenes here on the blog as well as working on several other things I want to share with you here too.

The point of this site was to help you sort through the many ways to do this kind of thing yourself. There is a lot of noise out there to sort through, with any number of directions you could go to this online lifestyle thing. Some good ones and some not so good ones.

I won’t teach you any online money stuff that is all over the internet. I will help you sort through the good ones by bringing you the quality products and people who can help you live your life however you want, instead of being tied down in the traditional way most of us start out.

I’ve spread myself thin with a variety of projects lately, and not doing enough to share it here with you between various writing and editing jobs, as well as work on affiliate products (which you can learn to do also using Corbett’s Affiliate Marketing for Beginners like I do. And yes, that is an affiliate link!) Much of the behind the scenes work has been testing things to make the site easier for you to use to get the information you’re looking for. I’ll have a bunch added when it’s all ready-ish to go.

I switched my mailing list over to a new system to be able to give you posts to your email. Spammers should all die, so you won’t get any of that from me. Go sign up over there on the sidebar, and you will get updates on new posts, as well as specials and products not posted here on the site.

I hope you’ll bear with me while I get the kinks worked out. In 2011, I’m going to take this site to the next level, as they say.

Technomadic Adventures in High Gear for 2011 is a post from: Live Collar Free

Location Independence is not always just about starting your own business, freelancing or otherwise working on your own. Though I have railed against the typical corporate mindset here before, I am not against working a “real job” entirely.

I actually applied for a job at a company recently. It is the 2nd time I applied there since being self-employed. I love what I do, and am not otherwise job-hunting. But I also love this particular company, it’s culture, and am passionate about their product that I’ve used for years. They do great work, and I want to be a part of it.

They posted a position that interested me, so I applied. Much of their staff  works remotely, so it would have allowed me to continue to be location independent. I would have had to cut back on some other projects to work full-time for them, but it would still allow time for other things, like this site. Freedom and enjoying the work that I do are most important to me.

With technology available to everyone now, the old style of having a massive office space to herd all of your employees into for 10 hours a day so they could make phone calls and access the company database is no longer necessary in most industries.

This is not a new idea. My dad was telecommuting from our home in the mountains back in the early 80′s. Of course he was the one writing the software on the mainframes he  logged himself into from the home office, so that may not be a fair example.

Now most anyone can use a phone from anywhere. They can log in from anywhere. It is cheaper for both employer and employee to have the employees telecommuting, and with this flexibility comes several ways this work is getting done.

Part-Time Telecommuting

Employers are increasingly offering trial attempts at allowing their employees to work from home for a day or two each week. I know people who have every other Friday out of the office, all the way to people who only have to come in on Mondays for face-to-face meetings. It’s a good start, but still limits the employees considerably. It’d be tough to justify living in Jamaica if you had to show up at the office every Monday in Seattle.

Usually these scenarios still involve company servers and such that need to be logged into in order to work. They seem to have the toughest time of letting employees off the reservation. As companies modernize, this will be less of a concern. At newer places, most work can be done with any of today’s modern smartphones.

Full-Time Workshifting

Modern companies today are relying increasingly on work from people who aren’t needed in the office at all. Companies are beginning to realize that employees are happier when they can work from home, coffee shops, libraries or wherever else they can get a reliable internet connection.

A good deal of work doesn’t even need the internet full-time anyway. A lot of design work or coding can get done from wherever, and uploaded when needed.

R.O.W.E.

A Results Only Work Environment is style of working coined by Cali & Jody, authors of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It. The concept is similar to a remote worker or other Digital Nomad in that the employee’s location is not important in most cases. The employee’s entire job performance is gauged on whether their work gets done. The name of this game is measurable results.

Say there is a sales goal to meet. You make your goal, the boss doesn’t care where you are or how you do it. No micro-managing, no worrying if you have a doctor’s appointment in the middle of the week, picking up kids from school, etc. Just get the job done, whatever way you work best, and you’re good to go!

Coworking

Whether you  work for yourself or another company, coworking has gotten increasingly popular. There is likely a space in your city where you can rent space to work with other remote workers and entrepreneurs.

Much cheaper than having your own office leased to work alone, this option allows you to work in an office-like environment with other people also doing their own thing. Some are more formal or secluded than others, while others have a much more laid back feel to them. This is popular with creative people who enjoy the company of others or don’t have a decent place to work from home.

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These are just some of the many ways companies are working with employees in today’s corporate environment. Tech companies tend to be more open to these sorts of alternative work environments, but more traditional companies are opening up to the possibilities as well.

I have mostly talked about the more entrepreneurial kinds of work here on the site: freelance writers, designers, photographers and such. There is nothing inherently wrong with working for someone else. We all work for someone in one form or another.

If you can find meaningful work that aligns with your values and you can be excited about: do that.

Are you able to work from home for your company? Know anyone who does? What kind of jobs do you think would have trouble adapting this kind of flexible work? Let me know in the comments.

Work from Anywhere While Working for Someone Else is a post from: Live Collar Free

Sitting in traffic one Sunday afternoon, I tweeted a message about the heavy traffic and how I couldn’t imagine doing that every day just to get to work and back (I was sitting in the back seat and not driving). A response I got from a friend was interesting, and probably “normal” by traditional standards.

“Some of us don’t have a choice!” was the angry response.

The anger was directed at me, but the hated rush-hour commute this person made every weekday. The response is typical of the majority of people in corporate America. Coming from this person shocked me a little bit, because they are a somewhat public figure whom most people think has a dream job and life. They do for the most part, but obviously not everything was ideal.

There are aspects of everyone’s life or work that we don’t like, but the part that bothered me the most was the sentiment that they had no choice. The idea that we just have to endure a bunch of miserable crap in life, and suffer through problems like the dreaded traffic every morning and night.

This is bullshit.

There is always a choice. It may not be the set of options you would choose in your own perfect world, but there is always a choice what we do. This person wanted that job and life. It just comes with the consequence of having an hour drive to cover 15 miles every morning. They don’t have to continue that work, or that exact pattern of work. I know the feeling well, the only difference for me was that I didn’t think it was worth it. So I changed it.

Not everyone can continue their current career path or use Four-Hour Work Week tactics at their current job. You may not be able to easily live without a car, or live in a van. Not all industries are suited to every available life option. You may have to choose another path. It depends on your overall goals and desires.

There are plenty of people who change career paths long before their student loans are ever paid off, because the thought of living in a soul-raping work environment for the next 40 years is worse than working for a third of the money. You can change your life if you want to change it bad enough. If it’s not worth it to change your circumstances over, then it is your choice to stay where you are. Learn to enjoy it, and don’t let the less pleasant parts of the path get to you.

Life is short, you will die when it’s over, and in most cases, we don’t get a choice when that happens. You may as well make the best of it until then.

Starting next week, I’ll be posting a series on people who have made gradual or even drastic changes to live unconventional lifestyles. I’ll even be meeting up with Chris Guillebeau from the Art of Non-Conformity on Sunday, during a stop on his Unconventional Book Tour. Hopefully I’ll have good stuff from that to bring you. If your city is on the remaining list of stops, you should go check it out.

I know that feeling of being “stuck” in a situation. The way may not come easy, but for every reason you have for why you can’t do it, I’ll show you many people who have done it.

Quit Whining or Choose Your Own Path is a post from: Live Collar Free

I wanted to give an update on some of the people previously featured on the site. Some of the things we’ve featured here have changed, and people ask me how some others are doing. While going through previous posts, I thought I’d update you on some of them here.

Lemonade

One of the stories we’ve mentioned several times both here and on the Facebook Page is Erik Proulx’s Lemonade Movie. After a successful run being featured on Hulu, it is still available for sale.

Erik has been hard at work trying to get together funding for the “sequel” of sorts, Lemonade: Detroit. He has made a trailer for the basic premise and is seeking grass roots funding for the project. You can be listed in the credits for sponsoring a frame of the film (or 10,000 – I’m sure he wouldn’t mind).

Adventure Photographer Trevor Clark

Since Trevor did a two-part interview with us, he is still making fantastic pictures, traveling all over the U.S. in his Sportsmobile van.

After spending much of the summer in Alaska, he ended up with a home base in Tahoe to operate from when not on the road in El Guapo. He spends plenty of time there, so it made sense for him to have an operations center to help him take his photography business to the next level.

Crush It!

Gary Vaynerchuk is still going on and on about the Jets, can occasionally be found on Twitter, and has a new book coming out, called “The Thank You Economy” as a follow-up to his best-selling Crush It! I have not read it yet, but I plan on it. I will put up my copy of Crush It! for a contest prize if there are enough people interested who haven’t already read the book. If only one person emails me, you’ll be the winner!

Nine Lives Vintage Wears

Readers will remember the story of Kristi Coyne, who was downsized from her government healthcare job a while back.

She decided to take the opportunity to not spend the rest of her life unhappily working in a field she did not thoroughly enjoy, and decided to open a vintage clothing store in Tacoma. Yes, she decided to kick fear in the nuts, turn away from the field she’d acquired several University Degrees to attain, and open a retail store at the peak of the worst financial climate in American history.

I’m happy to report that Nine Lives Vintage Wears is doing well, and has recently celebrated it’s first anniversary! Go Kristi!

Tales from Technomadia

Everyone knows Cherie and Chris from Tales From Technomadia. I was fortunate enough to be able to meet up with them earlier this year to watch the Space Shuttle Launch. They happened to be out here in Florida with the Oliver Travel Trailer they call home, along with another couple from Our Odyssey. None of us had met in meatspace before that day, but since they were so close, and it was the last scheduled night launch, I had to go!

We had a great time, and they so graciously let us otherwise total strangers use the warmth of their home on that cold February night as we waited for the 5am launch (that got scrubbed).

Being the Technomads that they are, they are always willing to wander and explore, as they work entrely online, and are not tied to any one place. They’ve long thought of trading in their RV for a sailboat at some point, but they recently came upon an opportunity to spend the winter in the U.S. Virgin Islands!

They only arrived on the island of St. John a few days ago as of this writing, but be sure to follow along on their adventures there. They take lots of pictures and are great at reporting the details of what life is like in whatever nomadic situation they live!

Way Below Status Quo Meetup

Over the summer, I met with a few other people I only knew from the online world. They were on a trip around the U.S. to meet people from the blog world. They passed through town and were stopping to meet Andrew Norcross while they were here. I just happened to see a tweet and invited myself out with them.

Colin Wright moved to Thailand shortly after the trip ended, and is working on several businesses from there. I don’t know if his readers have decided where he is going to live next, but it is always fun to watch.

Norcross is still in town and I am pretty sure he has fixed every WordPress site of every person on Twitter.

Ashley Ambirge is having a presale of her new book “Why You Don’t Need a Job: You Need GUTS!” If I was on the ball, I would have told you about it earlier, but there is still a short time to get it at 50% off until tomorrow (Nov 12, 2010).

She just got to Chile a few days ago, so I don’t know what hour she will cut off the discount.

Andi is still doing her 30-day challenges at Instigationology. She is running (mostly) online businesses without the crutch of social media this month. I don’t think she ever sleeps, and has done harder things than that, but it’s fun to watch.

The Future

I’ll be bringing more people to you through the site in the coming weeks. There are so many more people out living and working way outside the default life we are trained to live. I want to share them all with you, so subscribe to the updates through RSS, email, Facebook, or Twitter to be notified when we have new stuff here for you.

“What Happened to Them?” Updates on 6 LiveCollarFree Stories is a post from: Live Collar Free

As I talked about yesterday, my friend Corbett Barr’s new course Affiliate Marketing for Beginners is now available!

I use this site to bring stories of people living their everyday lives outside of the realm of the typical office drone 9-5 worker. I bring the stories of exceptional lifestyles being lived by everyday people. Most of them are not living this default corporate life, but they all still earn money one way or another.

The question I get asked most from readers here is “How do I quit my job and make money?” While I don’t intend for this site to become a “Make Money Online” (MMO) site, I do intend to also highlight the many ways people who live collar-free make a living. One of the most popular is through Affiliate Marketing.

Affiliate marketing is basically being a sales rep for companies who have a product to sell. You don’t need a warehouse, storefront, or distribution system. You just act as a sales rep for the company by building sites on the internet. There are thousands of companies who do this (like Amazon, for example).

There are plenty of scams and crap ideas out there. I will not ever be linking to any of that kind of junk just to make a buck or two. Corbett is only interested in helping others understand how to do this work in an ethical way. If you are looking for a pill to swallow to get rich quick or looking for ways of gaming Google, this isn’t going to work for you. But if you are willing to do a little work and follow the process, this course will take you step by step from explaining the terminology to getting traffic to your site and making sales for products of your choosing.

For the next 48 hours only, Corbett’s Affiliate Marketing for Beginners course will be offered at the heavily discounted price of only $47. After that it will jump up to it’s regular price of $87 (This is a one-time price. This is not a monthly membership charge).

He just added a deluxe package with some advanced bonus materials that I haven’t even had time to finish going through yet! Interviews with several others who are making money with affiliate marketing, a “Successful Affiliate” Tip Series, and group coaching sessions. The interviews are with Ridiculously Extraordinary‘s Karol Gadja, Adam Baker from Man vs. Debt, Everett Bogue, and a case study from Trever Clark, who completed this very course and his success story.

Both the standard course and deluxe packages are being offered at deep discounts for only the next 48 hours. They will still be available after that, just at their regular price.

That’s as much of the sales talk as you’ll get from me. Go check out the site if you have any other questions. Yes, that is an affiliate link

Feel free to ask any questions either below in the comments, or by sending email on the contact page.

Affiliate Marketing for Beginners from Corbett Barr is a post from: Live Collar Free

My friend Tammy Strobel over at  Rowdy Kittens was featured in a New York Times article over the weekend for simplifying her life and getting rid of most of her stuff.

Tammy simplified her life down to less than 100 possessions, sold her cars and the rest of the unnecessary stuff, and found she was much happier. I shared some of Tammy’s story earlier here on the blog and you can check out her book simply car free on this earlier post. She has been working as a writer and web designer on her own since making all these changes.

The question I’m asked most often by readers is how do people make a living when living in these unconventional ways. They don’t know how to design websites, or don’t think they can write for a living like Tammy. They ask about the ads that I have on this blog, and if I am making a living from them. This is a small blog and I don’t make much money from the affiliate links that I place on the site as I reference on my disclosure page. Most of the ads here just help the blog pay for itself, covering hosting costs and such. But they aren’t just random Google ads. They are affiliate ads for products I chose and like.

Most webpages on the Internet today that you see selling products are sold through affiliate programs. From tiny single page websites selling a single product, to large “compare and find the best travel deals” websites, many of these are set up to refer people to buy products that companies sell. These companies have affiliate programs set up for those people to make a commission on each referral they send. Amazon has had one since the mid 90′s, and it is a very common way for companies to bring in sales.

Many of the sites that you see are affiliate sites, and the people who own the websites are making commissions off of any products that you end up purchasing, when clicking on those links.

Tomorrow on August 10, another friend, Corbett Barr is launching his Affiliate Marketing for Beginners program at a discounted rate for the first 48hrs. In the course, he teaches a complete step-by-step course for beginners how to build your own affiliate sites from the ground up.

Affiliate marketing is probably the simplest and least expensive way to get into earning some extra money on your own using the Internet (that is legal, ethical and not a scam), and this course teaches you step-by-step how to do it. I was surprised how much information he included in the lesson plan. Even though I have done affiliate marketing, I have found a wealth of information and steps in there that I wasn’t quite doing as well as I could be. It has already helped me out quite a bit.

Since so many people ask me about this stuff, and I like Corbett and the program he has created, I’ll have more information up here on it tomorrow when he officially launches at 8am PST, so keep an eye on this space. Of course you can subscribe to our feed by RSS or email to be notified whenever there is new info here on the site.

Making a Living While Living Unconventional Lives is a post from: Live Collar Free

Colin Wright, Andi Norris and Ashley Ambirge are Way Below the Status Quo

Entrepreneurs are now more able to do work from the road with today’s technologies than in any other time in history. The internet and mobile devices allow people to submit their work and run businesses from pretty much anywhere. While some people live on the road full time, it also makes for some fun extended road trips.

Way Below Status Quo is a free online networking site organized by city, to help people get together and collaborate or get help with projects. To kick it off, a road trip is taking place now through mid-August, with the founders criss-crossing the United States. Actually, they are making more of a giant “W” across the country from the East coast to Seattle, stopping major cities along the way.

I was able to meet up with them for a short time last night while they were passing through. The famous WordPress Developer and Web Designer Andrew Norcross was also there to meet up with the group. I suppose we collaborated a bit, but it was mostly just fun times meeting for the first time in the real world instead of “knowing” each other online. And trying not to get thrown out of a local coffee shop and restaurant.

If they are going to be anywhere near your town, and you want to meet some people who are out living life, creating businesses, and helping others do the same, you really should make it a point to go hang out with them. They arrived in New Orleans this morning (July 15, 2010) for a meetup with Carl Nelson and some other people there. The rest of their itinerary can be found on the Way Below Status Quo website.

These founders and Nomadic Entrepreneurs can be found at WBSQ, as well as their own websites.

Ashley Ambirge

Ash inspires people with her thought-provoking writing over at The Middle Finger Project. Originally from Philadelphia, she spends most of her time traveling and is looking for a good place to live. See if you can convince her that your city is where she should live when the road trip is over or until she goes back to Costa Rica.

Andi Norris

Andi is taking the really, really long way home back to Seattle, and may be to blame for this road trip. Whether she is there or on the road, she runs the design firm Dezabulous, and blogs about life and causes trouble at Instigationology.

Colin Wright

It’s tough to describe Colin. Owner of no more than 50 things, Author of several books, not Canadian, and moves every 4 months. He doesn’t just move, he lets his readers at Exile Lifestyle pick the next city he’ll go to, and throws himself into the culture there. He went from Los Angeles to Argentina, just returned from New Zealand, and will be going to Thailand next. All while running his design firm at Colinismyname.com, as well as the newly-launched Ebookling.

Way Below Status Quo: Nomadic Entrepreneurs Road Trip is a post from: Live Collar Free

photo credit: DDFic

My journey to Location Independence began out of frustration. Frustration with how wasteful the business world ran, and how poorly most old-school businesses leveraged technology. There may have been a girl involved too. I’ll get to that later.

Several jobs and self-employed businesses made up my work history. They always followed the Standard American Dream 9 to 5 model. Jobs brought with them the same mundane things: the commute, the office space, the far-away promise of retirement someday, the Mondays. My forays into self-employment were not much different, because I was using those models.

At the time of my change, I was a well-paid salesperson at a manufacturer in a field that I loved. What could be wrong? Like most traditional jobs, I had to be there in an office when they wanted me there, and they wanted me there a lot. This left me little time to travel or enjoy life outside of work other than the occasional weekend. I could not find a way to look forward to another 50 years of this life. I knew there was a better way.

Leaving the Office

That corporate sales position got traded for another company as a self-employed contract salesman. I didn’t need to come into the office, but would have to visit various customers all over the state, and pick up new customers along the way. It was in the same field I loved, and a step in the right direction toward my freedom, but still very wasteful in many ways.

If you’ve ever sat in traffic in Los Angeles during rush hour, you know what I mean. If you’ve ever had to drive back and forth all over Los Angeles, you know that rush hour last all day. That’s what I did. This wasn’t an ideal solution.

The face time at customer’s shops was just how things had “always been done” in the industry. I weaned the existing customers off these regular monthly visits. Orders were not affected at all, and I had a lot more free time to spend on things apart from driving.

I would still regularly check on them, but now I only made a quick call or email reminder instead of hoping they’d be there when I made the trek out to their shop. They liked it better too. I was able to spend that extra time getting new customers and increasing sales, with only occasional visits to shops.

(A similar strategy is in Tim Ferriss’ best-selling book The Four-Hour Workweek. I had just never heard of the book at the time, and was only making this up as I went.)

Making Travel Possible

Now that I arranged my work so that I didn’t need to be anywhere in particular, I was able to travel more. I had taken regular vacations to Florida from my home in California. By this point, my intent was to make a permanent move.

Remember the girl I mentioned earlier? Yeah, it’s a long story, but she lived on a different coast when we accidentally met. Remember, life is not all about work, so these things are important.

I was now able to be in Florida for ten days at a time every month. While there, I was able to pick up new business in the state, all while still serving my west coast clients. It was no longer technically vacation, as I was always available by phone or email, but it was now just the life I was making happen.

There were still some obvious inefficiencies with my system, but it was infinitely better than having to be on a particular spot on a map for 75% of my waking hours. Using the internet and email, with only a laptop and a cell phone, I could go virtually anywhere and still make a living doing almost exactly the same job.

The Next Level

After making this up as I went for a year or two, I finally got really smart* and looked around online. It turns out that there are thousands of people using the technology available to us in the 21st century, who are doing a far better job of being Location Independent. I was on the right track, but there are better ways of becoming Location Independent than the stumbling path I took. When I finally found my way here, I learned a tremendous amount, and have made quite a few changes to the way I do things.

really smart* – This is sarcasm for “What I should have done in the first place before stumbling around on my own like a buffoon.”

I started this journey by looking for a way to spend more time living my life, traveling, and enjoying the world instead of sitting at a desk all day. I did make the move to Florida several years ago. We are now working on deciding where to go for longer than extended vacations.

Whether we travel overseas indefinitely or start with exploring North America by RV, we now know that we don’t have to wait for that someday when we retire to live our lives.

How I Freed Myself from the Office to Become Location Independent is a post from: Live Collar Free

We’ve written about the inspiring film “Lemonade” here, when Erik began seeking stories to add to the Lemonade book. The film has been viewed now by thousands of people with overwhelming support for the project. If you have not yet seen this film, you can watch it and help with the film (and future projects) through the methods listed below.

Come to a Screening

A live screening is the best way to see it. Watch it with a bunch of other people, then have drinks and talk about the film. I have not been able to get to one so far, but I keep looking for a way to get them down here.

Buy the DVD from Lemonademovie.com

Buying a DVD direct from the creators is the best way to get a copy of the DVD. They use a supplier (Kunaki) who prints on demand and can ship to most places around the world. They get to keep the most money if you spend the whopping $9.99 here from them.

Buy the DVD from Amazon

Some people won’t want to use a smaller outfit like Kunaki, and use Amazon regularly. It is available here at Amazon, though Amazon gets more than half the money you spend. It still ships from Kunaki and costs the same for you. The Lemonade folks just make a lot less of your ten bucks to put back into the project.

Hulu.com (no longer available)

The theme of the film revolves around people who were laid off. If you’re in a similar situation, or otherwise having a difficult financial time, you can still watch the movie on Hulu.com for free if you are in the U.S. If you enjoy the film, leaving a review helps them out too. So even if you can’t give financially, a review is welcomed.

The Future

The next project out of the Lemonade camp has recently been decided. “Lemonade Detroit” will be about the reinvention of this once thriving metropolis. Detroit has gone from the 4th-largest city in the U.S. to one of less than a million people. They are bulldozing historical mansions because nobody cares to fix them back up in Detroit. How are they going to make Lemonade from that situation? I can’t wait to find out.

The team is trying to gather enough funding to shoot a trailer to pitch to the studios this time. They made the original with all volunteer efforts, but they are going to try to do this one even better. Pitch in a few bucks if you can. The guy even has his kid hawking DVD’s out in the sun. Surely you can spare some change? You can always get more information by signing up for the mailing list on the Lemonade website.

What did you think of the film? Where did you see it? Are you looking forward to the Detroit version?

4 Ways to Watch Lemonade Movie – Sequel Update! is a post from: Live Collar Free

photo credit: Richo.Fan

It was August 20, 2009. Kristi Coyne was told she would be out of a job as of September 30. Her department of 130 employees would be let go: the county was farming out their mental health services to a private company. It’s a common story these days, but not one that everyone handles the same way.

Kristi had always done everything right. She got good grades in high school, went to college for her Bachelor’s degree, and then went on to get her Master’s in Psychology. She was working for a government-run mental health facility helping the local mental health community instead of pursuing a more lucrative career in private practice. Now she was left with her remaining student loan debt, some letters after her name, and a couple of weeks to figure out what to do — much more than a lot of people get.

The Crossroads

She had an idea that had always been in the back of her mind, but it was not that “right” thing to do. Certainly in this economic downturn going on in America in 2009, it was preposterous. Her work with the mentally ill was rewarding, and she would still be able to practice on the side. But her true passion had always been something else. Like most of us, she was raised being told that such frivolity wasn’t a practical way to make a living. She had always wanted to do something involving fashion. A fan of fabulous clothes of eras past, she had gathered enough of her own to open a store out of her bedroom closet.

Her options were to look for another job, to wait to hear what small percentage of her previous salary this new private company was going to offer to re-hire her, or to make up something else entirely. Messages from her Facebook friends were all encouraging. Her response to it after things had begun to sink in later that day was, “Thanks, guys! Your support has always uplifted me! I’d like to work on creating my own destiny now…”

The Road Unmapped

Two days after she learned that her job was getting outsourced, she looked at retail spaces and found one in an indoor mall in an old train station that she felt would be perfect for a vintage clothing store. The following week, the new company had offered its proposals to some of the laid-off staff. Kristi decided that she could not take the offer, and began a walk down another path.

The sign design was created for Nine Lives Vintage Wears before she even finished her tenure at her old position. She planned to open the doors in the first week of October. This retail store selling vintage clothes, handmade jewelry, and other items made by local artists and craftspeople was opening in a recession. Some people wondered if she was as mentally ill as her prior patients doing something that “crazy” in times like these. Once she convinced them that she was doing it, and at full speed ahead, they got behind her and watched the place take shape quickly. She had been dreaming about this for years, so she had a vision for it already that those people just couldn’t see as clearly.

A New Life

So far the store has done even better than she had hoped, and the people who thought she was doing something frivolous are starting to rethink their own lives. We are often put in situations that test us. Some people choose safety and perceived security, while others feel that would be a form of lifelong torture. The same week she held the grand opening of her store back in October, one of her former co-workers chose a much different path — jumping off of a high bridge to their death.

Kristi chose her path toward happiness and designing the lifestyle she wants. It doesn’t have to be a retail store that makes you happy, but I hope you can find your happy path.

Many people have dealt with layoffs like this. We have mentioned the Lemonade movie before. There are a lot of people out there questioning their worlds right now. Let us know in the comments below if you’ve ever been faced with a decision like this, and how it turned out for you. We’d love to hear your thoughts and story.

Full Disclosure: I don’t get anything if you were to go to Freighthouse Square in Tacoma and shop at Nine Lives Vintage Wears, or become a fan on Facebook, but Kristi’s story is relevant to this blog and my vision for it. It is just a happy coincidence that Kristi is my sister and I am proud of her for being awesome.

Career Outsourcing: Replaced by the Lowest Bidder is a post from: Live Collar Free