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WHAT'S NEW
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How to quit your day job
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Explore the paths three women took to find a more fulfilling career.
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By Mary Teresa Bitti
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The summer of 2003 had been a total blast and Leanne Schmidt wanted to show her helicopter tour crew at Ontario Place just how much she appreciated their hard work and friendship. So the crafty pilot knit everyone a navy Viking hat to match their uniforms and gave them out on her last day. The crew loved them and wore them all that day. Schmidt had no idea that a simple gesture of thanks would launch her into business. But it did. "So many people walking by asked where they could buy the hats, and one person even ordered one right there -- it was amazing," says Schmidt, who within weeks started researching exactly what she had to do to start a business.
Launching a new career
It was during a stint putting out forest fires in northern Manitoba the previous summer that Schmidt started making her, well, silly hats. Her grandmother taught her how to knit when she was a young girl, and it wasn't long before she taught herself how to crochet. The hobbies served her well that summer, when there was little to do in the evenings. "I decided I'd knit my friends hats in the shape of an animal that suited their personality for Christmas," says Schmidt. Her friend Mike was the recipient of a skunk hat, and her then-fiancé-now-husband got a rhinoceros hat ("because he's strong!"). The hats were such a hit that Schmidt started taking orders from friends and others who had seen them, even though she didn't have a business.
She launched Oddwear in late 2003 and hasn't looked back. While Schmidt, 32, says she isn't earning as much as she did at earlier full-time jobs, she is able to pay her bills doing something she absolutely loves. Plus, Oddwear has allowed her to support her other passion and seasonal gig: Schmidt is still a helicopter pilot for hire during the summer months.
Schmidt is also proof that a pastime you're passionate about can become a viable small business. If you've developed a knack for something that's in high demand among family and friends, it may just have the potential to turn a profit. For Schmidt, it wasn't so much about the money as it was the chance to make a dream come true.
Schmidt wakes up at about 6:30 each morning and walks her dog in the woods behind her home in Caledon, Ont.; then she's all business - her business. By 8 a.m., she is back in her oversize master bedroom, which serves as headquarters for crocheting, knitting and assembling more than 30 hats and matching scarves and mitts in her product line. From September through to about April, she works all out, putting in 10-hour days, seven days a week.
Getting the word out there
Spreading the news to potential customers that your great product exists isn't easy, but Schmidt has had some success. Her hats have been featured on the Toronto television show "CityLine," she takes a booth at the One of a Kind Show, a popular artisan's fair, and she is looking into selling her hats at another consumer show, the Ski, Snowboard and Travel Show in Toronto. Schmidt charges between $40 and $100 for each hat depending on the intricacy of the wacky designs. And she hires two women to help her when things get busy. While she says sales go up and down - "I have weeks when I have five orders and others when I have 40" - Schmidt has learned to live with the uncertainty.
She has also managed to live through some hard-won lessons. She launched Oddwear while she was living in a cramped apartment. Mistake. "It wasn't professional. I now have space devoted to Oddwear and it makes all the difference in the world," says a now-organized Schmidt. "I think if I had to do it again I would have rented some space for the business."
She would also have done a little more planning. Schmidt admits she didn't consider how she would deliver her hats. In her first year, she was so happy to have all those orders, she didn't think about how she'd get them to their new owners and as a result didn't charge shipping. "I delivered most of the hats myself in the Toronto area. That was a mistake. I figured that it wouldn't be a big deal to drop them off, but with tons of orders, that time turned from hours into days. Last year I charged shipping and did everything by Xpresspost at Canada Post."
Still, she says the perks of being her own boss are well worth the trials. "Having my own business allows me to change little things that make life easier, like getting the groceries in the middle of the day. That saves me time and stress," says Schmidt. "And I spend more time with my pets instead of running to the office every morning. I really enjoy that."
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Related article: How to resign @ CanadianLiving.com
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