16: Breaking into a new industry in your 50s

After climbing the ladder, project manager Andrew Grossi missed the creative part of being an architect—designing. In 2002, he decided to make a career switch to become a boat designer. He set up a plan and started taking courses in boat design. Unfortunately, the 2009 recession threw a wrench in Andy’s plan, and eventually, it took him two tries and some 15 years to make his career switch. 

In this episode, Andy tells us what kept him motivated, how he broke into a new industry in his 50s, and how he is back to learning and growing as a novice boat designer—and loving it. 

Resources:
The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers: www.sname.org


More episodes for making a career change after age 50:
Ep 4: Aged out: Making a career switch at over 50
Ep 18: The pros and cons of being a full-time author
Ep 21: A side hustle results in a career switch
Ep 23: How being bilingual helps your new career
Ep 32: How to make a career change after 50
Ep 41: Pursuing your passion at any age

Music credit: TimMoor from Pixabay

Podcast info:
What's your career switch? What do you think about this episode and the show? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Transcript

Lixandra: Hi, everyone. I'm Lixandra Uresta, and this is Career Switch Podcast. This show is here to encourage you to take action with whatever career change you've been considering or are working on. In some episodes, I talk to people who've made their own career switch, whether by choice or circumstance. They share the good, the bad, and the truth about their journey, including what worked for them and what didn't. In other episodes, I speak with experts who offer their best career advice on issues that can come up during the process of making a career change. After all, it takes guts to switch things up, and it's not easy. However, it is possible. So. I hope you hear something in this episode, an idea, a suggestion, a piece of wisdom that'll spur you into action with your own career switch, whether it's taking that first bold step or trying something new. Welcome. I'm glad you're here. 

Sometimes a career switch can lead you back to the fundamentals. After becoming a project manager, Andrew Grassi missed the creative part of being an architect, designing. In 2002, he decided to make a career switch to become a boat designer. He set up a plan and started taking courses in boat design. However, as is life, things can happen that are out of our control, like a recession or a pandemic. The 2009 recession threw a wrench in Andy's plan, and in the end, it took him two tries and more than 15 years to make his career switch. 

In this episode, Andy tells us how his passion for boats kept him motivated, how he broke into a new industry in his 50s, and how he is back to learning and growing as a newbie boat designer, and loving it. 

Hi Andy, thanks for joining us today. Your career switch officially began in 2002. However, it took two tries and more than 15 years for it to actually happen. Let's start at the beginning. What were you doing before your career switch?

Andy: I was working as an architect in a large firm in their New York office. And I was doing mostly coordination, coordinating the various parts of Big projects, commercial and institutional as we call them. Institutional is a name for libraries, college buildings, public institutions, things of that nature.

Lixandra: And what was your role in those projects?

Andy: I was a what was referred to as a coordinator or project manager. So I was not a designer. I was more in charge of knitting together the various parts and the various players that go into putting a large project together. So for instance, I would make sure that the design of the mechanical systems, electrical systems, signage, security systems, things like that were woven nicely with the architecture that the designers were designing.

Lixandra: So what led up to your career switch?

Andy: I was feeling Two things. One was that I always had loved boats. I had been a boater my whole life. And I was also feeling like I was not contributing in a creative manner and wanted to find a way that I could switch careers so that I could be a creative person again. I had gotten too far and too good as a project manager, as an architect, to turn around and become a quote unquote designer again. People knew me for was what I was good at. And it was going to be very difficult to become a quote unquote creative architect again, or a designer.

Lixandra: Up to that point, how long had you been an architect?

Andy: 20 years.

Lixandra: And how long had it been since you actually designed? 15 years. Wow. So this was in 2002. How did you start your career switch?

Andy: I started taking a distance learning course in boat and yacht design. And I was doing both my full-time job during the day as well as taking this correspondence course. I did that for about two years. So from about 2002 to 2004, I tried to do both. And at around 2004, I decided that I really couldn't do both and that It was more important to me to become a boat designer than it was to continue as an architect. So I left that job and got part-time or gig work, if you will, as an architect, but spent most of my time learning boat design.

Lixandra: How long did you do that?

Andy: I did that for a while. I did that from 2004 until about late 2009 when. The gig work or the part-time work dried up because of the general economic downturn. Basically two things happened at the same time. The part-time work dried up and I was running out of what I had allocated to cover not working full-time at my full salary. It was kind of ironic that that happened at the same time that the market had gone into such a downturn. At that time, I was very lucky to find a full-time job with a firm that had landed a huge contract for a multinational governmental agency. That was 2010 when I took that full-time job again.

Lixandra: What happened with your coursework on boat design when you returned to being a full-time architect?

Andy: I stopped altogether. The demands of that job were so great that I didn't have any energy or time in order to pursue the boat design.

Lixandra: Was this new full-time job any different for you?

Andy: I was back in the same sort of role that I had previously. I was coordinating and I was holding meetings and I was figuring out how engineering and architecture and design could all come together, but I wasn't really doing any of the design. So I found myself once again, although very well paid, I was finding myself very unhappy in what I was doing. The work was very unfulfilling. In fact, the firm that I worked in had very, very rigid job roles. Even when I volunteered to take on some design tasks, I really was not given any of that responsibility because I had been hired as a project manager, a project coordinator, and not as a designer. So I found myself in the same boat, pardon the pun, that I was in in 10 years earlier.

Lixandra: How were you feeling during this time? I mean, you were on your way to making your career switch, but the 2009 recession disrupted your plan.

Andy: Oh, I was very frustrated. I was kicking myself for not having completed the boat design courses a lot quicker than I did. Not that there were going to be any jobs in the boat business at that time. In fact, there weren't. So unhappy in my job, not designing boats and not having finished my design degree either. So yeah, I was pretty frustrated.

Lixandra: How far had you gotten with your boat design coursework?

Andy: The degree program with the school that I was getting the degree through was self-paced. As long as I was willing to pay, they were willing to have me go at my own pace, which was a double-edged sword because There wasn't a whole lot of pressure from the school to finish.

Lixandra: So you stuck around in this new full-time job, unhappy and frustrated for five years. What finally happened on a Thursday in 2015?

Andy: I went into the office and I was doing the same thing that I did every day and I was disliking it. And I literally out loud said, I can't do this for one more day. I went home that night and said to myself, You either have to embrace what you're doing now. And if you can't do that, you've got to find something that you can love. Because the expression I use, I was withering on the vine and I was going to die. I basically went on a mini vacation for the weekend and made my decision when I got back on Monday to resign from my job.

Lixandra: That was a pretty bold move. How did you feel about your decision?

Andy: I was excited, but I was also very scared. It was probably the most quick and forceful decision I've ever made in my life.

Lixandra: Okay. So you gave notice. What was your plan and what were those first steps you took?

Andy: I had to relocate outside of the Metro New York area because by that time, this is 2015, rents had climbed their way back up. And I realized that the only way I was going to be able to afford to do this without borrowing and without running up a credit card bills was I had to find a less expensive place to live. I underline less because where I ultimately found a job and where I moved to was less expensive than the Metro New York area, but it certainly wasn't the least expensive place I could have gone and that was Cape Cod up in Massachusetts. Because I am originally from New England and because I was able to find a job in the marine business, it made sense at the time.

Lixandra: How did you get started in Cape Cod?

Andy: I got settled in. I found a place to live. I went back to having roommates again for the first time in a real long time. And I got a job in a marine canvas and awning shop on Cape Cod and started my courses up again. So I was working three days a week at the canvas shop and two or three or sometimes four days a week on my, my schoolwork to really get it done.

Lixandra: All right. So a big part of a career switch is getting your foot in the door. How did you work on that?

Andy: Through a lot of talking to people, networking and making the most of any opportunity that I could find. So I joined the, as a student, even though I was older than most of the students, I joined the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and started attending their meetings. I talked to anybody who owned a boat who designed boats, who built boats, who serviced boats, about anything from simple questions to asking them to tell me what their method was of design. I even did some free work for a sailboat designer in the northern coast of Massachusetts because it was a good way in the door. His naval architect was too busy to take on some little adjustments and customizations, and I did the work for free.

Lixandra: What did you get out of that?

Andy: Well, good exposure to both the process and also the, the industry. And if you do a good job, it's, it's a good recommendation. In fact, the guy who owns that sailboat production company gave me a very good reference when it came time to look for a quote unquote real job.

Lixandra: Okay. So how did you land your first job in boat design?

Andy: I went to an annual trade show down in Florida. which is to the trade only. It's not a boat show for consumers, but it's a trade show for people in the industry. I had attended a lecture by two of the people who worked for the firm that I ultimately ended up going to work for. I had stayed late after one of their lectures And they had told me at that time that they had an opening. They weren't sure what it paid or if it was what I was looking for, but they told me to send my resume, which I did as soon as I got back to my hotel room.

Lixandra: What did they think of your experience as an architect and your applying for their boat design opening?

Andy: They were honest with me and they said what the job that I was looking for, I was not quite qualified for. but they liked what they saw in terms of the drawings I had done and also what I had explained had been my process as an architect for putting things together and for managing my time. They decided to basically create a position within their sort of salary and title structure that they thought that I could do while I got the experiences that I needed

Lixandra: While you were looking for that first opening, were you ever discouraged?

Andy: I was. Several times people said things like, don't quit your day job. And in fact, the people that gave me the advice of don't quit your day job fell into two categories. And one category I discovered were people who had tried to be boat designers or yacht designers and maybe never achieved what they wanted to do. So I think that that kind of colored what they were telling me. The other category were saying, go for it. It's a great profession. It's a lot of fun, but it's a hard way to make a living. So keep your architect's license. Don't give that up because you could always fall back on that. What I learned over time was that, and this could apply to anybody making a career change, is define what the person's goal is or what's their motivation for either encouraging you or discouraging you, because that's very much colored by their own experiences. What I learned was don't let every discouraging word discourage somebody from from pursuing what they want to do. And it took me a while to figure that out because the first few times I got very scared when somebody said, oh, it's very hard to get a job in the boat design business. Keep your day job.

Lixandra: So even when you got this cautionary advice, what encouraged you to keep going?

Andy: The fact that I wanted to design boats, that I have a passion for boats, pure and simple.

Lixandra: And where does that passion originate?

Andy: I started out sailing with my dad on the Hudson River. And then in my teen years, we moved to New Hampshire by the ocean and we continued to sail. And then in my last year of high school, and I think it was my first two years of college, I was a deckhand on a sightseeing boat and then a whale watch boat up in New Hampshire. I love the water. I love the sea. Sailing and motorboating combined my love of gadgets and machines and motors with being on the water. So if I could have all that in one place, I was very happy.

Lixandra: So now that you've broken into the industry, tell us about the kind of boats you design.

Andy: The firm that I work for designs power boats, and that includes everything from small center console sport fishing boats up to work boats, and large yachts. One of the things that we are most known for is what are called custom Carolina sport fishing boats. And those are the big white sport fishing boats with the towers on them that go offshore after marlin and swordfish and sailfish and things like that. They're also known as tournament sport fishing boats.

Lixandra: Now, are you still in school?

Andy: Yes, I'm finishing up my thesis.

Lixandra: And what is the degree you're working on?

Andy: It is a diploma in small boat and yacht design.

Lixandra: And how is your new job going?

Andy: It's going very well. A lot of that has to do with the people that I'm working for. They were willing to take a chance on me because I was willing to work very hard and to take the skills I had learned at doing something else and apply it to what I'm doing now. It's not perfect. I don't always know what to do, but I have lots of people helping me out and I'm really loving it. I'm loving designing boats and being around people talking about boats all day.

Lixandra: So what three tips can you offer our listeners who are working on their own career switch?

Andy: First thing I would say is have a plan and stick to it. Make adjustments as you go in order to deal with the realities of how things are going and where you're going. Part of the reason my plan didn't go according to plan was things I couldn't control. But there were things that I could control that I didn't control well. Unfortunately, there were different times when either life circumstances or just my unwillingness to give up the sort of comfortable life that I had gotten in the way of getting my degree done quicker. The other is, and we touched on this before, is be careful about who you take advice from, whether it be good or bad. The last would be is you've got to be open-minded and willing to understand that you're going to be a newbie again. I had started out as an architect and worked my way up to a position of knowing what I was talking about and being looked to by others for direction and for expertise. I started this new job when I was already 52. I had to open my eyes again and realize going into this new job that I didn't know everything and I wasn't always going to have the answers. that I needed to be willing to ask other people for their expertise. It can be very liberating also. There's a certain amount of freedom that comes with not having to be the expert all the time. Because of what I was doing as an architect, I had to know what was happening most of the time. And to not have to always be that person anymore is very refreshing and is allowing me to grow.

Lixandra: Well, thanks, Andy, for sharing your story and showing us how it's never too late to make a career switch. Thanks to Andrew Grassi for being our guest today. You can find links to the resources mentioned in this episode and more helpful information in the show notes and on our website, careerswitchpod.com. While you're there, join our mailing list and follow us on Instagram and Twitter at careerswitchpod. 

So what's your career switch? Are you excited to take action after listening to this episode? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. We'd love to know, along with any feedback you have about the show. We're a new podcast, so please rate, review, and share with your friends and colleagues. It'll help get the show out there. Thanks for listening today. Till next time.