Marianne Hardart sits down with Amy today to talk about her dual careers and the satisfaction that she continues to derive from these two very different occupations. Marianne graduated from Wheelock College, now part of Boston University, with a major in Child Life. Though originally intending to go into Special Education, she explored the Child Life option her freshman year and was drawn to it. (Child Life involves working with children impacted by illness or injury and helping them learn to cope.) She volunteered in Boston to work with such children and found the tasks to be challenging and rewarding. After receiving her degree in Child Life, Marianne was hired for a “dream job”. She found a position at New York University Medical Center where she was able to write and implement new programs and grow in her profession. Five years later, she went on to work with an organization helping children and families with AIDS. With new experience to share, she returned to NYU Medical Center as an administrator. In all, she had built a successful and happy 20 years in the Child Life field.

As with many people though, a life event caused Marianne to reevaluate the path she was traveling. A serious health scare started her thinking about a childhood passion that she had never truly considered as an adult, and while she waited to learn the severity of her health concerns, she made a promise to herself to explore acting should things go favorably.

Happily, the medical test results proved to be good news and so she enrolled in her first acting classes. She also found that she could manage to maintain her work with children while she began this new pursuit. She was very surprised to find how much she had to learn about herself and her new chosen craft. She describes to Amy how she had never been a “theater nerd” as a kid, but here she was, past 40, and working toward a stage career. And like so many of Amy’s guests, Marianne Hardart was able to pivot with surprising success. Listen to her describe to Amy the advantages of having age and life experience in your corner along with a strong support network. She will convince listeners that what look like roadblocks to some, provide a leg up to others.

Marianne has found that an acting career can involve a lot more than stage performance. She has broadened her acting CV by becoming a writer and producer as well. She’s been successful with a one act play she’s penned. She hosts a popular podcast and she’s written a book about her famous restaurateur family called The Automat: The History, Recipes, and Allure of Horn & Hardart's Masterpiece.

Listeners will undoubtedly be glad to learn that it’s possible to be a success in two entirely different fields, and how though different, the first can bring a lot to the second. And some might also find it encouraging that you don’t have to be 20 something to begin down that second fulfilling career path. It goes to show you can have your cake and eat it too, even if it doesn’t come from an automat!

 

Topics in this episode 

• The importance of a peer support network
• How immersion in the study of your second field helps build necessary confidence to take on something new and different
• How learning who you truly are and having confidence in yourself makes a second career less intimidating to initiate
• How to use your previous work and experience to feed your new endeavors
• How to live in the present and enjoy it
• How to create “bite-size” career advancements in order to maintain balance and growth in both careers
• When you’re undecided on your path, try a new hobby or avocation. You will learn something and you will find networking to be invaluable in your search
• Why it’s important not to stand in place but to take action and keep moving

Links:

• Mare Out There: Leaving a Message (podcast)
• mariannehardart.com