Giving it all up
At some time or another we all have thoughts of jacking in our job and starting something new. That’s just what I did – I gave up a successful well-paid career to serve coffee from a vintage van.
I was a university academic for 30 years. I worked with great colleagues and students, I travelled the world, researched and wrote. From being the first in my family to go to university, to becoming a lecturer and then professor, the journey was in many ways wonderful. By the time I quit I was finally getting well paid and if I just kept my head down and stuck at it, I’d get a great pension too. The rational decision was to stay. So why leave?
Speaking at RCSI Dublin
Change
First, a change in me. I had achieved all that I wanted. There was little left to excite me. The idea of rinse-and-repeat for another 20 years held little appeal.
In my defence this change was part of volunteering at the lindesfarne festival.
#eyeliner-issues
Second, a changed world. By the mid 2020s I found my vision for what higher education might be was increasingly at odds with those I worked for. I disagreed on strategy, values and the ways that institutions treated human resources or, as you and I call them, people. I still loved working with students and colleagues (okay, 99% of them) but I no longer believed in much of what the sector was selling. Don’t get me wrong, I will be forever grateful for my time in higher education. I would not change the past, but it was time to change my future.
New paths
So, in 2025 I left academia and tried to figure out what to next. Retirement was out of the question: too young and we needed an income. I was done with having a boss (truth be told I have always struggled with authority). I didn’t fancy consultancy and, let’s face it, there are few hires for fifty-something professors. I also wanted something that would let me be creative, take risks, be part of a community, take responsibility, and earn a living. Starting my own business seemed like the right thing to do.
I’d had a small taste of running my own business when, in 2023, I set up a pop-up café as a side hustle. It was fun, but the place and timing were not right. Fast forward two-years and I was ready to take the plunge. I was going to start a business. The only question was what? We explore how Bob met Minty in the next blog
Happy caffeinating
Bob & Minty
Minty - The Little Green Bean Machine