Family and Flexibility a Priority

Beth Ross spent 26 years working as a program analyst for the Social Security Administration. Not once during that time did she dream that she would retire and become a pilates instructor who also sold nutritional supplements.

“I never imagined this was where I would be. I was going to wait to retire until my son was out of high school, then do contract work for the government,” she said. “Marketing oneself is so different than sitting in a cube at a federal office,” she said.

In 1999, the Social Security Administration offered selected employees early retirement. While the Crofton resident enjoyed her job, she also had a young son with learning differences, and she was feeling stretched by the demands of her home life. “I needed more stability at home,” Ross said.

Retiring early freed up her time to take her son to tutors and help him without feeling stressed that she was being pulled in too many directions. She started volunteering at school and at her church.  She also became involved in the care of an ailing elderly relative, visiting her at a nursing home four to five times a week.

By 2006, her son’s school situation had stabilized and she was starting to think about looking for a part-time job. She had been taking nutritional supplements recommended by her chiropractor, when a friend suggested that she start selling Usana nutritional supplements.

There are a lot of quality variations among supplements, so I tried taking them first, said Ross. I was pleased with how well they worked and decided that I could sell this product, she said.

The pilates instruction developed separately. Ross had been seeing a chiropractor for help with back problems. The chiropractor introduced her to pilates to strengthen her back. Ross liked the personal touch she found in small pilates classes where instructors took time to really look at student’s poses and correct their form.

She persuaded an acquaintance to offer a class at her church. After two instructors moved on to other ventures Ross decided to become certified to teach the class herself.

“I would not do anything differently,” Ross said. “My career has grown organically. It’s been an easier way for me to handle things,” she said. “I wasn’t looking for a career that would be high-paying,” she said. “I wanted something that would be flexible, that I would enjoy and that would compensate me,” she said.

“I want to learn to work smarter, rather than put more time into it,” Ross said. She plans to learn more about social media and work with someone to develop a website that combines her pilates instruction with nutritional information.  Her current site http://www.healthsupport.usana.com/  is part of the Usana organization and only lists the nutritional supplements.

“Go slowly if you are pursuing a different career,” she advised, “take the time to find something you enjoy and not something you have to do.”