by Mark Gleason

photo by Yan Krukov

Most popular requests Brian Kurth gets from baby boomers to arrange a few “vacation” days on the job, and how he fulfills them

Baker

Dawn and Dave Crofton at One Girl Cookies offer a “sweet” VocationVacations baker career mentorship at their kitchen in Brooklyn, N.Y. Get up to your elbows in dough and join them in mixing up a variety of cookies, bars, cupcakes, cakes and other baked goods. Gain basic baking business knowledge as you learn about pricing, ingredient sourcing, packaging, marketing, production and managing a small café and cookie shop. This may be the “recipe” you need to help you transition to a new career.   

Dog Daycare Owner

Wagging tails, warm noses and puppy kisses are all part of the experience on a VocationVacations dog daycare owner career mentorship with Debi Ropes at Lucky Dog Resorts and Training School. With two locations in Colorado Springs, Colo., Lucky Dog Resorts is a full-service “dog city” offering boarding, training, agility and grooming in addition to daycare. If you have always wondered what it would be like to work with four-legged clients all day, this is your opportunity. Debi will share how the dog daycare business operates from all perspectives—health and safety, customer service, business management, interaction with the dogs and building relationships with their owners.  

Bed & Breakfast Owner

Many people fantasize about owning a bed & breakfast. But is that fantasy closer to fact or fiction? Find out on a VocationVacations bed & breakfast owner career mentorship with Chloe Tuttle at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast in Williamston, N.C. Big Mill offers hands-on experience in all aspects of running a bed & breakfast—upkeep, making reservations, guest relations, marketing, staffing, understanding occupancy rates and how to avoid burn-out. Chloe’s days are a whirl of activities, challenges and rewards. Join her and see how she does it—and if you are ready to “check in” to the bed & breakfast business.

Animator/Digital Designer

Tone Thyne, supervising producer at Little Airplane Productions in New York, N.Y., offers a fascinating VocationVacations career mentorship as an animator and digital designer. Tone and his team work with “vacationers” in the areas of script writing, storyboarding, design, animation and music. You will have the opportunity to observe and participate in 2D crafts and digital design projects, digital scene folder prep, the creation of digital animatics and the assembly of final animation.  

Voiceover Artist 

Voiceover artist Kim Crow is among VocationVacations most popular mentors. She has helped many explore the skills and the talents that go into being a successful voiceover artist. Kim, who lives in Sarasota, Fla., will help you discover your “signature voice” and how to optimize your vocal mechanics. She will share with you the tricks of the trade and work with you on various styles of copy delivery and on how to market yourself. You will even get to create your own demo tape and will come away with a solid foundation of experience that will help you decide if a career as a voiceover artist is right for you.  

Nonprofit Director

Are you looking for a career that will enable you to give back and make a difference? Caroline Boudreaux, executive director of the Miracle Foundation in Austin, Tex., offers the opportunity to spend two days with her on a nonprofit director VocationVacations career mentorship. The Miracle Foundation owns seven orphanages in India that care for more than 600 children. Caroline will outline what it takes to both start a nonprofit and successfully run one—the daily operations, staffing, working with volunteers, marketing, fundraising and navigating the political and social waters.  

Sports Announcer

A VocationVacation helps you explore new careers you may want to pursue. It also can offer you the chance to do something you always wanted to do, if only for a couple of days. If you always wanted to be the one calling the plays at a baseball game, you’ll appreciate the opportunity to get behind the microphone on a sports announcer VocationVacations career mentorship with Mike Capps, the voice of Nolan Ryan’s Round Rock, Tex., AAA baseball team, the Express. Get involved in the pregame preparation, pre- and postgame interviews, press box operations and the live broadcast, and meet and mingle with the team and players.

Brian Kurth is founder and president of Pivotplanet, a career coaching firm, and also of VocationVacations, a firm that arranges a few “vacation” days on the job—on your dream job, that is—in a real company or organization, so you can get a firsthand feel for a profession that you’ve been considering. He is also the author of “Test-Drive Your Dream Job: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding and Creating the Work You Love.”