News from the Homestead: An unexpected encore career
In 2014, I worked with Mike on his groundbreaking book, Career Asset Management. Having experienced several career-changing events in my working lifetime, I could not have foreseen the encore career I would experience a quick ten years later.
In 2024, with the purchase of Wittbrich Acres, I entered an entirely unexpected new career phase. I spent over three decades working in the professional communications and organizational development fields. Then, with little more than blind faith, I found myself responsible for a flock of chickens and a whole bunch of bees, and near-endless chores. My skill set needed a big overhaul, considering these two livestock powerhouses didn’t need my guidance in communication or organizational development…they’ve got better skills in those arenas than most humans!
Career sustainability habits: Benchmarking, continuous learning, and networking
To many people, chicken and bee-tending might seem more like tasks than career callings, but I beg to differ. Given the amount of continuous learning, researching, benchmarking, patience, worrying, and networking involved over the last two years, I’d put these up against any “professional” positions I’ve ever held.
Although my LinkedIn profile doesn’t yet list Poultry Professional or Apiary Overseer, these responsibilities have helped me advance my career repertoire. Abilities I never expected to tout now stand alongside more glamorous ones. Today, I speak as confidently about caring for an egg-bound chicken or treating bumblefoot as I do about the potential impact of AI on the career paths for communication professionals.
Rather than attending networking events and professional association meetings, I rely on my monthly lessons at the Racine Kenosha Beekeepers Association and on the many opinions and ideas from my numerous bee mentors.
I’ve been further blessed with FSG clients who reply to my columns with suggestions, tips, and resources for all things poultry, bee, and gardening-related. Where once my shelves were filled with books focused on my academic and professional career paths, they are now increasingly stocked with livestock, home repair, and gardening titles.
How my times have changed! In a few short months, I’ll be taking down my shingle that has defined my professional career for nearly four decades and replacing it with my encore career as a full-time caretaker of Wittbrich Acres!
And now for a few updates
My 28 hens seem to have gone on some egg-laying hiatus before the expected seasonal shift to lower output. Currently, I am gathering a paltry poultry production of eight or fewer eggs a day.
That means that 20 of my hens, including six hatchlings from spring, prefer to be pets over producers. I’ve got four roosters keeping watch over the flock, which is too many, and I’ll have to make a reduction-in-force decision about the hen-to-rooster ratio very soon. At least I won’t have to do an Adverse Impact study before taking action (practicing HR pros will clearly appreciate that reference!).
I’m working on helping my queen bees prepare for laying winter bees in the coming months and fortifying their current workers with a steady supply of thick sugar syrup to replace depleted nectar sources. I’ve harvested nearly 170 pounds of honey from my three hives, which earned my bees an exceeds expectations rating on their job performance this season. And I won’t even have to give out any raises as a result (another reference for my former HR colleagues!).
Canning and freezing efforts are keeping me busy between trips to the hen house and beehives. I’m proud of my tasty tomato sauce this year, and I can make raspberry and grape jelly and elderberry syrup without consulting a recipe now. I should probably add some of those emerging skills to my new career profile as well.
As I prepare for my formal retirement, I remain filled with gratitude for all the new opportunities that have helped prepare me for this encore.
I’m already rehearsing my creative response to inquiries of “what do you do for a living?” I can’t wait to observe the reactions I get when I reply with “I scoop poop and bless bees, and if I’m lucky, I make some stuff grow!” To my ears, that sounds like a wonderful encore to a long and successful first act.
Until next time, sending you wishes for peace, harmony, and gratitude from Wittbrich Acres. Thank you for reading, responding, and encouraging!
