Five years ago, Murl Harmon, 61, had to make a tough admission to himself: COVID-19 had hit, and the magic he loved performing wasn’t paying the bills anymore.
He knew he had to pivot.
“I was in pretty bad shape, but I remembered that I had put in my application a few years ago about bus drivers,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I pursued that, and that’s how it all started.”
Harmon has found flexibility and a way to implement hard-won skills in a later-in-life job that also offers the financial support he needs.
Credit: Contributed by Cobb County Schools
Credit: Contributed by Cobb County Schools
He’s one of many seniors across the metro working steadily. Here are a few examples of jobs that are a fit for them now and in the long term.
Something to offer
Diane Adoma, owner of Diane Adoma Consulting LLC in Dekalb County, began consulting in 2011. The firm currently provides public information content on a major GDOT-awarded road and infrastructure project in Dekalb County, and Adoma draws heavily on past experiences.
“I worked in corporate America for 25-plus years, and then I ventured out into entrepreneurship, and from there into a specific area of consulting. And what I like about consulting is that you get to create your own path,” she said. “Some of these skills, and experiences are things that you only get through the school of aging.”
One of her strengths is solving niche problems, and that toehold has opened doors for self employment.
“You can create your own path for entrepreneurship and for your own revenue and your income as you age, most of the time, in consultancy,” she said. “You don’t even have to go to an office.”
Credit: Contributed by Diane Adoma
Credit: Contributed by Diane Adoma
At age 67, she still enjoys long hours and working hard, and she revels in the expertise she brings to the table.
“You have something to offer that no one else can do as well as you, and you have to sell that,” she said. “Let them know, ‘I may be 67, but hey, I can solve this problem for you, and here’s why I have the best solution.’”
Project management
Leslie Epps-Smith, 71, owns Accountable Fitness based in Dekalb County. She provides accountability to individuals seeking lifestyle changes through health and wellness. Clients, usually career women in their 40s and 50s, often come to her after a doctor has advised them to make a major pivot.
She began coaching in 2019 after a career as an IT enterprise system project manager, which has lent her an ability to influence clients toward healthy change. She’s also had the insight to treat goals like projects and break them up into small chunks, which has been beneficial to clients.
Like Adoma, she believes expertise goes a long way in sustaining a career later in life.
“I believe that you identify what you’re good at and what you’re passionate about,” she said. “And then, you transition that into an environment that meets what you bring to the table.”
Credit: Contributed by Cobb County Schools
Credit: Contributed by Cobb County Schools
A little magic
Harmon now drives a bus for Cobb County Schools five days a week. He’s on retainer and fills in on elementary to high school routes when other drivers are out or buses need to be moved.
He likes the flexibility of being able to schedule appointments and run errands between morning and evening bus runs, and the stress level, he said, is fairly low. Getting to stops on time is the biggest challenge.
And to the delight of many students now, he’s been able to share his great love: magic.
“If you have done everything your teacher has asked, if you have had fun and you’ve been good on my bus, you get a magic trick at the end of your field trip,” he said.
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