JIM HARCOTT says it was his dad who advised both him and his brother to transition into retirement instead of going “cold turkey.” And that’s exactly what the former Vancouver teacher did.
Post retirement, he now works one day per week in each of his main fields of interest: teaching and retail. In his gig as a Faculty Advisor at UBC’s Department of Education, Jim mentors teachers coming into the profession.
“I’ve learned from them how important the life-work balance is,” he says. “Millennials realize they are stronger professionally when they are fulfilled personally.”
Jim’s personal long-time interest in things vintage landed him a Monday retail job at Step Back, a Vancouver vintage shop. “I love interacting with people and I’ve been collecting vintage for a long time, so it’s a good fit.”
An avid, lifelong reader, Jim manages to devour 100+ books per year, mostly non-fiction and in his areas of historical interest. “I now see a fuller retirement coming on,” he admits, five years later, “but this transition approach has kept me in balance, while I’m waiting for my younger husband to retire.”
COLLEEN TSOUKALAS became an “accidental” family fashion blogger when she retired from a 35-year profession in education. After first spending a year in Greece, Colleen and her husband headed off to Japan. While visiting their daughter in Tokyo, mother and daughter took on Tokyo Fashion Week and later collaborated as a blogging team.
“Blogging has taken me everywhere,” she says, initially surprised. “My writing and people skills, plus my lifelong interest in fashion, have opened many new and unexpected opportunities,” she adds, mentioning walking the runway once, volunteering at My Sister’s Closet, and mentoring young fashionistas at VCC’s fashion programme.
Colleen says blogging has really connected her, not only to the fashion community, but also to her extended Vancouver community, as well as keeping her daughter-and-granddaughter connections current. Her daily mantra, “Oh, go out …,” has served her and her wide-ranging fashion-based community well.
Visit Colleen’s blog at http://www.clotheslinefinds.com/.
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