In the eighth of my new Ask-A-Pro series, I’d like to present you with Robyn Denson Dupuis, river guide.

In the Ask-A-Pro format, I’ll tell you a little about the author and how-to-find-your-dream-job expert . . . then via the Comments section to this post, please feel free to ask a specific question about the career or job in question.

Anyone (expert or not) is free to post responses to your query, and I or the author/how-to-find-your-dream-job pro may chime in as well.

This is your chance to get unbiased advice from a real, honest-to-goodness-been-there-done-that dream job professional.

So, here goes . . . Robyn Denson Dupuis on getting out on the river!

Robyn has been a river guide since 1998, and has kayaked or rafted most of the rivers in the eastern United States. She has been an independent freelance writer since 2000, specializing in topics related to outdoor recreation, and has authored hundreds of articles on subjects such as kayaking, river rafting, biking, climbing, hiking, and competition paintball.

Robyn resides in Gig Harbor, Washington where she has more opportunities for sea kayaking than river kayaking, but she still manages to find plenty of waves with her husband, Jason, and daughter, Kacey.  

Dream Jobs To Go Title
How to Break in as a River Guide

Current Profession
Legislative Analyst, Washington House of Representatives

What Would You Be Doing If You Weren’t A River Guide?
I’d be back on the river of course!  I’ve also just produced a music CD called “Music Time for Parents and Grandparents” which is designed to help new parents/grandparents brush up on classic children’s songs so they can share the musical traditions with their children!

Life Philosophy
Try to do your dreams justice – even if they don’t work out – you’ll always regret not trying.

Favorite Food
Spicy authentic Mexican food

Your Hobbies
Kayaking, running, cycling, backpacking, and hiking . . . anything outdoors!

Why Do You Live Where You Live?
I can kayak from my own dock in the back yard amongst harbor seals, river otters, diving ducks and salmon!

If You Could Live Anywhere You Wanted, Where Would It Be?  Why?
I’d like to travel around and live in many different countries with my family – spend 2-3 years in each…what a great experience!

Popularity: 8% [?]

In the seventh of my new Ask-A-Pro series, I’d like to present you with Dr. Traci Vujicich, life and writing coach.

In the Ask-A-Pro format, I’ll tell you a little about the author and how-to-find-your-dream-job expert . . . then via the Comments section to this post, please feel free to ask a specific question about the career or job in question.

Anyone (expert or not) is free to post responses to your query, and I or the author/how-to-find-your-dream-job pro may chime in as well.

This is your chance to get unbiased advice from a real, honest-to-goodness-been-there-done-that dream job professional.

So, here goes . . . Traci Vujicich on life coaching.

Dr. Traci Vujicich has been a Life Coach and writer for 15 years. She has conducted more than 7000 one-on-one coaching sessions, helping clients achieve goals in their personal and professional lives. Dr. Traci is also known as The Writing Doctor, as she dedicates herself to curing the world of boring writing.

Dream Jobs To Go Title
How to Become a Life Coach

Personal Website
http://www.thewritingdoctor.com/

Current Profession
The Writing Doctor

What Would You Be Doing If You Couldn’t Coach?
I plan to build a personal development writing retreat on Catalina Island.

Life Philosophy
I believe that we are only limited in life by our beliefs.

Favorite Food
Sushi

Favorite Read
The Grapes of Wrath

Favorite Author
John Steinbeck

Favorite Sport
Pro basketball. I had season seats to the Lakers during the Dream Team era.

Favorite Travel Destination
Everywhere! I love to travel.

Favorite Music
My tastes are very eclectic, depending on my mood. I love rock, jazz, classical, New Age, and even some country.

Favorite Movie
I am embarrassed to admit that my favorite movie of all time was National Lampoon’s Vacation. Recently I saw all four of them in a row!

Favorite City
Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Favorite Country
This one!

Your Hobbies
Reading, cooking and watching stand up comedy.

Favorite Quotation
It’s not getting what you want, but wanting what you’ve got.

Favorite Drink
Again, depends on my mood. Milk, Diet Dr. Pepper, Miller Genuine Draft, Absolut Mandarin vodka, chardonnay and pinot noir wine, and champagne.

Why Do You Live Where You Live?
The weather.

If You Could Live Anywhere You Wanted, Where Would It Be?
Catalina Island

The Greatest Things About Coaching Are
The ability to make a real difference in peoples’ lives, and the chance to work for myself.

The Worst Thing About Coaching
The pressure to get new clients.

If A Young Person Approached You About Getting Into Coaching, What Would You Say?
Go for it!

If An Older, Career-Changer Approached You About Getting Into Coaching, What Would You Say?
Go for it!

The Most Important Piece Of Advice Anyone Ever Gave You About Coaching
Go for it! Just kidding. Seriously, I’ve been coaching for so long that I don’t even remember not doing it.

Any Other Advice You’d Like To Share With People Who’re Thinking About Getting Into Coaching
Buy my book.

Popularity: 7% [?]

In the sixth of my new Ask-A-Pro series, I’d like to present you with Marcia Yudkin, syndicated columnist, freelance writer, and marketing consultant.

In the Ask-A-Pro format, I’ll tell you a little about the author and how-to-find-your-dream-job expert . . . then via the Comments section to this post, please feel free to ask a specific question about the career or job in question.

Anyone (expert or not) is free to post responses to your query, and I or the author/how-to-find-your-dream-job pro may chime in as well.

This is your chance to get unbiased advice from a real, honest-to-goodness-been-there-done-that dream job professional.

Over to you, Marcia.

Marcia Yudkin broke into print in 1981 with an article in the very first Education Life supplement of the Sunday New York Times. She has published ten books, including Freelance Writing for Magazines & Newspapers (HarperCollins), Six Steps to Free Publicity, (Plume/Penguin) and Internet Marketing for Less than $500/Year (Maximum Press) as well as articles in magazines ranging from the New York Times Magazine and Psychology Today to Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, and New Age. She has also delivered commentaries on National Public Radio, and since 1999 has had a weekly syndicated column on marketing distributed by Paradigm News.

Marcia’s entrepreneurial streak has led her to publish her own audiotapes, one of which was picked up by the Writers Digest Book Club and the Sounds True catalog and booklets. She is soon releasing a software program that makes it easy to distribute self-syndicated content on the Web.

Marcia Yudkin has spoken at more than 50 writers conferences over the years and has a coaching program in which she’s guided aspiring writers in the U.S., Switzerland, and Japan.

Dream Jobs To Go Title
How to Break in as a Syndicated Columnist

Current Profession
Writer and Marketing Consultant

Websites or Blogs You’d Like Us To Know About
http://www.yudkin.com/ – Discusses a lot of ways to make a living as a writer

Life Philosophy
Life is too short not to spend it doing what you most enjoy.

Favorite Read
The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier

Favorite Travel Destination
Vancouver Island, BC

Favorite Author
Henry David Thoreau

Favorite Music
Bach

Favorite City
Boston

Favorite Animal
Black bears and moose

Your Hobbies
Hiking and geocaching

Why Do You Live Where You Do?
It’s quiet and peaceful, surrounded by trees and wildlife.

The Most Important Piece Of Advice Anyone Ever Gave You About Life?
You only live once.

Popularity: 5% [?]

In the fifth of my new Ask-A-Pro series, I’d like to present you with Dana Cassell, freelance writer, editor, and publisher.

In the Ask-A-Pro format, I’ll tell you a little about the author and how-to-find-your-dream-job expert . . . then via the Comments section to this post, please feel free to ask a specific question about the career or job in question.

Anyone (expert or not) is free to post responses to your query, and I or the author/how-to-find-your-dream-job pro may chime in as well.

This is your chance to get unbiased advice from a real, honest-to-goodness-been-there-done-that dream job professional.

So, over to you, Dana.

Dana K. Cassell has been an independent writer since placing her first freelance article in 1971. Since going full-time in 1976, Dana has had published more than 2,000 articles in nearly 200 publications. In addition to magazine writing, she has provided editorial services to several dozen clients, ranging from individuals to small businesses to corporations to ad agencies – including manual revision, editing, proofreading, newsletter production, and ad copywriting.

Dana has authored several books, including Making Money With Your Home Computer (Dodd, Mead), How To Advertise & Promote Your Retail Store (AMACOM), Encyclopedia of Obesity & Eating Disorders - Third Edition (Facts On File), Food for Thought: The Sourcebook of Obesity and Eating Disorders (Facts On File), Encyclopedia of Autoimmune Diseases, and Encyclopedia of Death & Dying. She has also edited or ghostwritten five books.

As founder and executive director of Florida Freelance Writers Association and Writers-Editors Network, Dana has been helping other independent writers and editors achieve success for 25 years. In addition, Dana is Series Editor for the Dream Jobs To Go series at Intellectua.com

Dream Jobs To Go Title
How to Break into the Freelance Writing Business

Personal Website
http://www.writers-editors.com/

Current Profession
I’m in the information business - as a freelance writer, book author, contract editor, newsletter editor/publisher, writers’ network director, and webmaster.

What Would You Be Doing If You Couldn’t Write Or Edit?
If I could carry a tune, I would switch to singing in an instant.

Life Philosophy
Can’t is a four-letter word.

Favorite Food
Chocolate, the fifth basic food group.

Favorite Sports
Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Hurricanes football

Favorite Travel Destination
Ireland

Favorite Music
Very eclectic tastes; have my 670+ CDs arranged by artist (or by title for multiple artists) and play some daily while I work, going from A to Z - everything from opera to classic country to 50s rock to big bands to show tunes to jazz to folk.

Favorite Book
The Thorn Birds
Favorite Authors
John Steinbeck, Colleen McCullough, Tess Gerritsen, Michael Palmer

Favorite Movie
I watch baseball or football games instead of movies.

Favorite City
New York City

Favorite Country
Other than the USA, Ireland.

Your Hobbies
Collecting - books, music CDs, paperweights

Favorite Quotation
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men of talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Favorite Drink
Diet Coke

Why Do You Live Where You Live?
The mountains, the changing seasons, the villages.

If You Could Live Anywhere You Wanted, Where Would It Be?  Why?
Right here in northern New Hampshire. Why? Well, I actually made that “where do I really want to live” decision in early 1993. After 21 years in Florida, with my kids grown and a profession that lets me live anywhere, I considered seriously where I now wanted to live. Having grown up in Elmira, New York, I missed the hills and valleys, real winter and real autumn, and I had daydreamed about living in a New England village since childhood. So here I am.

The Greatest Things About Freelance Writing
The total independence and control over one’s life, the continual learning about new things, and getting credit (most of the time) for what you produce.

The Worst Thing About Freelance Writing
The feast or famine element.

If A Young Person Approached You About Getting Into Freelance Writing, What Would You Say?
Now is the best time to be a freelance writer, but you absolutely must treat it as a business and produce what the customers want, not what you want to write.

If An Older, Career-Changer Approached You About Getting Into Freelance Writing, What Would You Say?
The very same thing plus use the contacts, experience and knowledge you’ve accumulated to offer targeted editors information their readers want or need that only you can provide.

The Most Important Piece Of Advice Anyone Ever Gave You About Freelance Writing?
The information you gather in your research is your parts inventory; use it to build more articles and books.

Any Other Advice You’d Like To Share With People Who’re Thinking About Getting Into Freelance Writing?
Freelancing to magazines is like being a salesman. Keep knocking on doors until you get inside (receive a go-ahead), then provide the product (manuscript) they can’t keep from buying. Keep track of how many “doors” you have to knock on before getting invited in and how many manuscripts you have to submit before making a sale and how much money you average per sale. That will be your ratios. Now you know what you have to do to reach the dollar goal you’ve set. Then go to work improving your ratios.

How Would You Define Success?
I define success as achieving a goal or objective by following a predefined plan, while successfully dealing with obstacles along the way.

Popularity: 5% [?]

In the fourth of my new Ask-A-Pro series, I’d like to present you with Lillie Amman, network marketer.

In the Ask-A-Pro format, I’ll tell you a little about the author and how-to-find-your-dream-job expert . . . then via the Comments section to this post, please feel free to ask a specific question about the career or job in question.

Anyone (expert or not) is free to post responses to your query, and I or the author/how-to-find-your-dream-job pro may chime in as well.

This is your chance to get unbiased advice from a real, honest-to-goodness-been-there-done-that dream job professional.

So, here goes . . . Lillie Ammann on getting started in network marketing.

Lillie Ammann has been a network marketer since 1996. She represents Unicity Network and Waiora and loves to share her story of getting out of a wheelchair as a result of the products.

Lillie operated her interior landscape company from her home for the first five years of business, in the days when home-based business didn’t have the panache it does today. She always regretted having to move to larger facilities to accommodate employees, inventory, and equipment. It took her more than 15 years, but she finally realized her dream of a home-based business with no employees, no inventory, and no equipment except a computer and a telephone.

Lillie is the author of Stroke of Luck, a romance novel, and Look Beyond Tomorrow, an inspirational true story about overcoming workplace violence. She also does freelance writing and editing for businesses and other writers and is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Your Information Center.

Dream Jobs To Go Title
How to Get Started in Network Marketing from Home

Current Profession
Full-time freelance writer, editor, publisher; and part-time network marketer

Websites or Blogs You’d Like Us To Know About
Personal:  http://www.lillieammann.com
A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye blog: www.lillieammann.com/blog
Publishing Web site: Your Information Center,
www.yourinformationcenter.com

What Would You Be Doing If You Weren’t A Network Marketer?
I would write even if I had another job. I would be more active in network marketing if my health permitted, but I don’t get out much because of a medical condition. Meeting people is essential to success in network marketing.

Life Philosophy
Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die tomorrow. James Dean

Favorite Food
Dessert of almost any kind

Favorite Read
I enjoy romance and mystery novels as well as how-to books and other nonfiction. The one book I read daily is the Bible.

Favorite Authors
Usually whoever I’m reading at the moment.

Favorite Sports Team
San Antonio Spurs

Favorite Music
Oldies

Favorite Movie
Another oldie – Dr. Zhivago (because my husband took me there on our first date)

Favorite City
San Antonio

Favorite Country
US

Your Hobbies
Volunteer work for church and organizations (newsletters, creating and maintaining Web sites, administrative duties – things I can do from my home)

Favorite Websites (Other Than Your Own)
Books We Love, Waoira, Guide to Grammar & Writing, and MLM Watchdog.

Favorite Quotation
Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die tomorrow.  James Dean

Favorite Drink
Pina colada

Why Do You Live Where You Do?
My husband lived and worked here when we got married, but I love it here and can’t imagine living anywhere else. I grew up in a small town about a hundred miles south of San Antonio, so I’ve lived within a hundred-mile radius my entire life.

If You Could Live Anywhere You Wanted, Where Would It Be?  Why?
Right where I am – I’ve been happy here for nearly 40 years

The Greatest Things About Being a Network Marketer Are
Being able to work from home and set my own hours – you’re more apt to find me at my desk/computer after midnight than before noon. Being able to help people with the products (I got out of a wheelchair as a result of using nutritional supplements from a network marketing company) and with the business opportunity. To help someone else improve their health and their financial situation is great.

The Worst Thing About Being A Network Marketer Is
The negative perception that many people have about the industry, in some cases with good reason. That’s why How to Get Started in Network Marketing from Home has so much information about checking out companies to avoid scams and find the best company for you. Joining a good company can make you rich; choosing the wrong company can cost you a great deal of time, money, and stress.

If A Young Person Approached You About Getting Into Network Marketing, What Would You Say?
This can be a wonderful career opportunity, but you must be willing to meet people and make lots of contacts. Young people can be very good because of their enthusiasm and excitement, but they often lack the contacts that make good prospects for the business. However, if you are willing to put forth the effort to present the business to many people who are older, more experienced, and more successful than you are without being intimidated, you can work hard for a few years while you’re young and build a residual income for your future.

If An Older, Career-Changer Approached You About Getting Into Network Marketing, What Would You Say?
You can take advantage of the experience you’ve gained through the years and the contacts you’ve made to build a business quickly. There are no age limits in network marketing – maturity and experience are pluses.

The Most Important Piece Of Advice Anyone Ever Gave You About Network Marketing?
You have to believe totally in the company you represent – both its products and its marketing plan. You can’t be successful trying to build a business in something you’re not passionate about.

Any Other Advice You’d Like To Share With People Who’re Thinking About Getting Into This Field?
Your success in this business will depend on your beliefs, commitment, and effort. There is no better way for the average person to become wealthy than through network marketing, but it is just as easy to waste money and time trying to build a business that doesn’t really excite you.

Any Other Comments About The World Of Work You’d Like To Share?
To borrow a phrase from a book title: Do what you love, and love what you do.

How Would You Define Success?
Success is living life on your own terms, focusing on your own priorities. For me, that means working from home; setting my own hours (I am not a morning person!); spending time with my husband, family, and friends; supporting my church with my time, talent, and treasure; and being financially independent.

Popularity: 6% [?]

In the third of my new Ask-A-Pro series, I’d like to introduce you to Rosalind Sedacca.

In the Ask-A-Pro format, I’ll tell you a little about the author and how-to-find-your-dream-job expert . . . then via the Comments section to this post, please feel free to ask a specific question about the career or job in question.

Anyone (expert or not) is free to post responses to your query, and I or the author/how-to-find-your-dream-job pro may chime in as well.

This is your chance to get unbiased advice from a real, honest-to-goodness-been-there-done-that dream job professional.

Okay, over to you Roz.

Rosalind Sedacca is a Business Communication Strategist with more than 20 years’ experience as an award-winning advertising copywriter, public relations practitioner, and marketing consultant. Over the past ten years she has expanded into the world of professional speaking and training in two distinct capacities.

As a consultant, Rosalind works with emerging and veteran speakers helping to identify their unique positions in their targeted markets. After formulating a success strategy, she prepares marketing and promotional materials that meet their specific needs.

Rosalind is also an acclaimed national speaker herself, recognized for her presentations on business communication issues. She has addressed organizations from coast to coast on ways to eliminate miscommunication in the workplace – both written and spoken. A specialist in gender communication dynamics, Rosalind’s timely keynotes, seminars, and workshops focus on marketing to women and how to bridge the gender communication gap at work to boost sales, employee morale, and staff productivity.

Rosalind is a frequent guest on radio and TV discussing her marketing and communication strategies. She is currently writing a new book, based on her personal life experience, titled How Do I Tell the Kids . . . About the DIVORCE? It’s based on a fill-in-the-blanks storybook concept that will help prepare children for the changes ahead — with love. She will be offering workshops and teleseminars on the subject to help families as they move through the challenge of divorce.

Dream Jobs To Go Title
Professional Speaker or Trainer

Current Profession
Business Communication Strategist, Marketing/Public Relations Consultant, Professional Speaker, Author

Websites or Blogs You’d Like Us To Know About
My upcoming book website How Do I Tell The Kids About the Divorce? and Child Centered Divorce.

What Would You Be Doing If You Weren’t A Speaker?
A therapist specializing in pet therapy to heal our emotional wounds

Life Philosophy
It’s not what happens, but how you perceive what happens, that affects our success in life.

Favorite Food
Ice cream

Favorite Read
Spiritual, philosophical, personal growth books such as Seat of the Soul.

Favorite Authors
Gary Zukav, Marianne Williamson, Harville Hendrix, Ram Das

Favorite Travel Destination
Europe

Favorite Music
Classic rock and folk

Favorite Movie
Chicago

Favorite City
Venice, Italy

Favorite Country
USA

Favorite Animal
Cats – large and small

Your Hobbies
Traveling, reading, dancing, swimming

Favorite Websites (Other Than Your Own)
The one I need at the time

Favorite Quotation
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts. Marcus Antonius

Favorite Drink
Good champagne

Why Do You Live Where You Do?
I love the sun, blue water, green grass and year-round flowers that greet me daily in South Florida.

If You Could Live Anywhere You Wanted, Where Would It Be?  Why?
I love South Florida.  I would also love a second home on a mountain lake in summer.

The Greatest Things About Being A Communications Specialist Are
Helping people share their thoughts, goals, and dreams with others to expand their self-esteem and success.

The Worst Thing About Being A Communication Specialist
Frustration and anxiety about not getting it right.

If A Young Person Approached You About Getting Into Professional Speaking, What Would You Say?
It’s a calling – a need you have to share yourself with others in the best possible way.  You know if it’s in you and if it is, don’t hesitate to do everything in your power to get in front of audiences, larger or small, and let it flow.

If An Older, Career-Changer Approach You About Getting Into Professional Speaking, What Would You Say?
Dozens of seasoned “experts” enter the profession every day sharing their wisdom, experience, and values to help younger people master life lessons more easily.  Don’t hesitate to go for it.

The Most Important Piece Of Advice Anyone Ever Gave You About Life?
Be yourself – always! You can never be a better anyone else than you. Let your spirit shine.

Any Other Advice You’d Like To Share With People Who’re Thinking About Getting Into Public Speaking?
Create your own unique message, deliver it in your own style and practice every chance you can in front of any size group. Repetition makes for perfection.

How Would You Define Success?
For me, success is the fulfillment of my sense of self. Achieving that which I feel is the highest expression of what I believe I am makes me successful. That can be translated into successfully writing a book, handling a difficult relationship, or being a loving parent. It can mean reaching a goal I’ve set to complete a project, learn a new software program, or get a standing ovation after I deliver a speech. What’s most important is that only I can define success for me. If it gives me satisfaction and leads to positive results that in no way harms others, then I am a success. And the drive to be successful continues to create challenge and fulfillment in my life.

Any Other Comments About the World Of Work You’d Like To Share?
If you don’t believe in yourself and your talents, no one else is likely to either. Start within yourself, become your best fan, then share that energy with all you meet.

Popularity: 5% [?]

In the second of my new Ask-A-Pro series, I’d like to present you with Scott Cimarusti, radio announcer and voice-over pro.

In the Ask-A-Pro format, I’ll tell you a little about the author and how-to-find-your-dream-job expert . . . then via the Comments section to this post, please feel free to ask a specific question about the career or job in question.

Anyone (expert or not) is free to post responses to your query, and I or the author/how-to-find-your-dream-job pro may chime in as well.

This is your chance to get unbiased advice from a real, honest-to-goodness-been-there-done-that dream job professional.

So, here goes . . . Scott Cimarusti on working in radio and doing voiceovers.

Scott Cimarusti began a career in radio at the student-run radio station at the University of Illinois.  After graduating, he picked up a part-time weekend shift at a local rock station, before getting overnights at an adult contemporary station across town.

Moving from overnights to Creative Director, he used his production skills to get a job at a video production company as an audio engineer.

Scott currently works in multimedia production for the University of Illinois Department of Computer Science, but still does voice-over work whenever he can.

Here’s a tad more about Scott and some of his takes on the radio announcing and voiceover business:

Dream Jobs To Go Title
How to Get Started in Radio/Voice-Over Announcing

Current Profession
Educational Technology

What Would You Be Doing If You Weren’t a Radio/Voice-Over Announcer?
Ideally, writing full-time

Life Philosophy
Treat others as you would like them to treat you.

Favorite Food
Pizza

Favorite Read
Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series

Favorite Authors
Stephen King, Richard Matheson, Raymond Chandler, and Arthur Conan Doyle

Favorite Sports Team
Any Chicago team

Favorite Travel Destination
Europe (someday, I hope)

Favorite Music
Classic rock

Favorite Movie
Star Wars

Favorite City
Chicago

Favorite Country
USA

Your Hobbies
Writing, golf, reading, tinkering with computers, entertaining my children

Favorite Websites (Other Than Your Own)
rottentomatoes.com; imdb.com

Favorite Quotation
Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think.  Jean de la Bruyere

Favorite Drink
Alcoholic: Guinness or Corona; non-alcoholic: Coca-Cola

Why Do You Live Where You Live?
Work and family

If You Could Live Anywhere You Wanted, Where Would It Be?
Chicago—see above

The Greatest Things About Being a Radio/Voice-Over Announcer Are:
Getting paid for talking.  And when you start making money at it, you feel overpaid for doing something you enjoy. Most of the people I’ve met in the business are laid-back, friendly people who help each other.

The Worst Thing About Being a Radio/Voice-Over Announcer
Not getting paid enough, sometimes.

If A Young Person Approached You About Getting Into Radio/Voice-Over Announcing, What Would You Say?
I would tell them to start doing it part-time, as a side venture and see how it goes . . . not to try and make a go at it full-time right away like I did.

If An Older, Career-Changer Approached You About Getting Into Radio/Voice-Over Announcing, What Would You Say?
Go for it!  But, again, get your feet wet part-time first.

How Would You Define Success?
Success is when you’ve finally found that elusive balance between work and play — where work almost seems like play, and going to work each day doesn’t feel like “going to work each day.”  In a word, I would say that success is balance.

The Most Important Piece of Advice Anyone Ever Gave You About Radio/Voice-Over Announcing?
There are two kinds of people in radio: Those who’ve been fired, and those who will be. This taught me to always keep my options open, and the importance of networking. And while this may be true initially, once you get established at a good company, you can often stay there as long as you want – like most other professions.

Questions about radio or voice-over professions?  Just holler by posting in the Comments section here.

We’ll do our best to answer.

Popularity: 9% [?]

In the first of my new Ask-A-Pro series, I’d like to tell you about Jack Adler.

In the Ask-A-Pro format, I’ll tell you a little about the author and how-to-find-your-dream-job expert . . . then via the Comments section to this post, please feel free to ask a specific question about the career or job in question.

Anyone (expert or not) is free to post responses to your query, and I or the author/how-to-find-your-dream-job pro may chime in as well.

This is your chance to get unbiased advice from a real, honest-to-goodness-been-there-done-that dream job professional.

So, here goes . . . Jack Adler comin’ at ya.

Jack Adler has over 25 years’ experience writing about travel. Five books he’s written are: Consumer’s Guide To Travel, Exploring Historic California, Companion Guide To Southern India, There’s a Bullet Hole In Your Window, and Travel Safety (co-authored). Many of his articles have appeared in various newspapers and magazines. He has been a columnist, on a freelance but weekly basis, for the Los Angeles Times’ travel section. His columns have also run in the San Francisco Examiner, Westways Magazine, and Cruise Travel Magazine. He also was a columnist/editorial writer for Better Business Travel, a nationally distributed newsletter and a columnist for TravelAssist, an electronic magazine.

Currently, he’s the leader/chief content provider for Aantare’s travel bulletin board and a columnist for Travel World International, an electronic magazine. He is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and the North American Travel Journalists Association.

Jack has taught a course in Travel Journalism for many years at UCLA Extension, and a course in Feature Writing for the Writer’s Digest School.

To get to know Jack a little better and how he views the world of travel writing, here’s a little more:

Dream Jobs To Go Title
How to Break in As a Travel Writer

Current Profession
Journalist/Writer/Teacher

What Would You Do If It Weren’t Travel Writing?
I would be writing and researching stories and other materials for myself. I would continue teaching travel writing at UCLA Extension.

Life Philosophy
Be sensitive to other people, and try to do work that you enjoy.

Favorite Food
Steak and spaghetti

Favorite Read
War and Peace

Favorite Authors
Tolstoy, Dickens

Favorite Sports
Baseball, Football, Basketball

Favorite Travel Destination
Italy

Favorite Music
Classical

Favorite Movie
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

Favorite Place
Florence, Italy

Favorite Country
Italy

Hobbies
Reading, making collages

Favorite Quotation:
Never send to know for whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee

Favorite Drink
Negroni

Why Do You Live Where You Live?
I live in Los Angeles because I moved here from New York a long time ago to take a job. It was my second time in California, as I went to college in Berkeley and always wanted to return to the state (though not necessarily in Los Angeles).

If You Could Live Anywhere You Wanted, Where Would It Be?  Why?
I’d probably want to go back to the Bay Area, though not necessarily in San Francisco. I would consider living overseas, somewhere near Florence as well.

The Greatest Things About Writing Your Book Are:
Stimulating readers to start writing and submitting travel articles.

If A Young Person Approached You About Getting Into Travel Writing, What Would You Say?
Read as many travel publications as possible, figure out a subject that motivates you, then write the story, edit it carefully, and send it out. Don’t be disappointed by any rejections; it’s part of the business and everyone gets them.

If An Older, Career-Changer Approached You About Getting Into Travel Writing, What Would You Say?
Be careful about burning down any economic bridges. Freelancing is a tough business and it can be hard to make ends meet, especially when getting started. Begin by writing in your free time and develop a strategy on what markets to approach first.

The Most Important Piece of Advice Anyone Ever Gave You About Travel Writing?
Be accurate and offer specifics, not just generalities.

Any Other Advice You’d Like To Share With People Who’re Thinking About Getting Into Travel Writing?
Packing a suitcase and traveling is the best way to accurate writing.

How Would You Define Success?
In the public eye, success has to be measured in some fashion by recognized achievements, which doesn’t have to be commercial. On a private and personal basis, success is more one trying to achieve, with the measure of success higher with each achievement. But I do believe in the maxim that it’s better to try and to fail than not to have tried at all.
Thanks for that, Jack.

Now, any questions anyone?

Please post to the Comments section here and we’ll see if we can help.

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