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TOP 10 DREAM JOBSTaken From A&E's "Top Ten" program, Produced by Weller/Grossman Productions. (Barbara Rey's comments are bold and italic) The average American changes jobs eight times by age 32. Can you really do what you love and make money? Can it be easy, fun, enviable, with perks and fringe benefits? Is your goal at the end of your life to say, "I feel pretty good about how I spent my life?" What stands between people and a dream job? According to Dr. Carole Leiberman, "The obstacle is a sense of guilt if it's fun on the job." (I, Barbara Rey, call these "joysuckers™") You don't deserve to be happy at work. If it's work, it can't be fun. To pursue a dream job it feels like cheating. Follow your bliss and the $ will follow. Everyone should look at their dream job. Here are the top 10 Dream Jobs, from ridiculous to sublime. (You don't find these in want ads but you do find them in your heart. Go back to your childhood dreams!) Starting with the last first: 10. SAND SCULPTORWorking artistic magic 10-12 hours a day on a sunny beach or a sandbox at a mall pays $2500 to draw crowds to bring in new business. (How innovative!!) It may not be structurally sound, but Sandcastles Unlimited owner Kent Trollen says, "This is where I want to be and this is what I want to do. The result is $45,000 for a finished project. (No briefcase required!) Why would corporate clients pay this much money! 9. INTERNET ENTREPRENEUR"DotCom Mania. Brock Pierce is the CEO and co-founder of Digital Entertainment NetworkBR.DEN. (DEN). He is also 18 years old. A former child actor has Microsoft and Dell Computer financially backing him with $26 million. His dreams started with selling soda out of his high school locker and lemonade stands. Having a lot of drive and "guts" he faces challenges head on. He says, "I see it and go for it! I can take on the big guys! Just do it!" There were 14 Internet billionaires by the first quarter in 1999 according to Business 2.0 Magazine. 8. RACE CAR DRIVERBrian Herta, professional race car driver, started as a kid dreaming. From pretending on Halloween to actually doing what he'd always wanted to do, Brian says it takes training, ability and the big sponsors. Mario Andretti says, "You can make $200,000 to $6 million a season. All it takes is $500 plus a valid driver's license to get into a good school." 7. IDEA GURUDoug Hall, President of Richard Saunders Int'l., makes $4,000 an hour. He gets paid to play! He uses unorthodox means to develop products for corporate America. He quit a Branch Management job at Proctor & Gamble at age 32 to develop ideas on how to have more fun by using routine to ridiculous methods. He does 3-day brainstorming groups ("romper room for grown-ups") and earns $120,000. These clients feel it's worth it because they come back 10 to 12 times! He just loves to solve problems. "It's like giving birth over and over again, and I'm a man!" It's not a main stream job being behind the scene, but it's what he felt passionate about. "If you really love your job with all your heart and soul and not because of $, you can get really darn good at it!" He has written the book "Jump Start Your Brain." 6. POP OR ROCK STARJohn Lodge of Moody Blues was 12 years old when he got his guitar and went to bed with it. The band has been together for 35 years. "It all begins and ends with a song," says songwriter Justin Hayward. Their drummer was really a structural engineer before. In 1998 the Rolling Stones earned $57 million. In 1996, out of 274,000 budding musicians only 3 out of 5 make it in part-time music. They dream of being in a rock band as kids. They must do music to live, whether they get paid or not. 5. RESTAURANT CRITICIrene Virbila is an LA Times critic who earns $100,000 a year. She keeps her identity under raps. Working incognito is vital; no public recognition here. "It's taste that counts." She invites guests to eat with her ("the food warriors"), has good conversation and never pays the bill. Here's a job where you can "have your cake and eat it too." 4. PRO ATHLETECharles Barkley, Houston Rockets, says "It's the best job in the world. It all starts with a dream." Tiger Woods teed off at 2 years old and got his first job at 21. "I can't wait to go to work." You need talent, good coaching and natural ability to get the perks, endorsements and hero status. Less than 1% of all football players play in the NFL. Competition is brutal and unforgiving. It takes leadership qualities, talent, smarts, and the ability to be tough. You can make six-figures to $20 million a year being a grownup playing a kid's game. 3. FASHION PHOTOGRAPHERSexy photos sell magazine fashion trends, beauty products, and ideas. Photographers Jonathan Exley and Antoine Vergalas say, "The difference between a good and great photographer is communication." It takes coaching models and making snapshot judgements. You must be talented, well-connected, move fast, and be fiercely competitive. Seductive exposures sell and persuade people to spend $. You can make up to five- figures a day. 2. TRAVEL JOURNALISTPeter Guttman, travel journalist, experiences the majesty and wonder of cultures and landscapes of earth. "You can see the world in a lifetime. Serendipity plops in your lap and you get out on the unbeaten path into uncharted territories. Every picture tells a story." 15% is actual travel, 85% is writing. You push the boundaries of convenience and caution. This adventurous job yields $100,000 a year, including expenses. 1. MOVIE STARGetting there is tough. Staying there is almost impossible. Screen Actors Group says 85% of its 96,000 members earn less than $5,000 a year on the job. The industry thrives on youth, looks, talent, luck, and determination. This job is elusive but coveted. Since 1927, 200 stars have placed their hand-prints on Groman's Chinese Theatre sidewalk. You can gain $, fame, power, and the admiration of millions. There is no guarantee for stardom, but as Shakespeare says, "There's always passion to play." (So, we must not forget to dream on and reach high. After all, that is what life truly is about anyway. Dream jobs are in "the eye of the beholder.")
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