Careers That Double as Great Lifestyles

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Would you like to work with chocolate? Or maybe you’d like to get paid to be fit? Or maybe you dream of coupling your career with something else?
What makes a lifestyle career is different for everyone, depending on your aspirations. That might be working from home, working remotely, having flexible working hours, having the potential for individual empowerment — or all of the above.
From real estate to yoga to technology, here are 15 careers that double as great lifestyles. Like those who lend their voices and experience to our list, you might just find a job that encourages you to leave the 9 to 5 behind — and transforms your life in the process.
Chocolatier

Award-winning Minnesota-based chocolatier Robyn Dochterman combines her love for chocolate and desire to learn with putting a smile on her customer’s faces. “I love being part of people’s celebrations and helping to create traditions for them,” she said. “I get a wonderful buzz seeing the same customers at special occasions every year. And I really enjoy learning from the world’s leading chefs who come to teach at chocolate and pastry schools, almost all of which are located in great places to travel, including Las Vegas, southern California, Chicago, New York and Toronto.”
Dochterman’s chocolate shop is extremely busy during the fall, winter and early spring “chocolate holidays,” but every year she and her partner make time to travel toward the equator to do cacao research, tour plantations and fincas and learn all they can about how different regions grow, ferment and dry cacao. “It’s a rather unusual lifestyle,” she admits. “But I love the travel, being surrounded by nature, and having exciting and calm times.”
If you like being creative and are prepared for a lifelong learning experience, a career as a chocolatier could be the perfect lifestyle for you. Don’t think you need to know all the answers before you start, says Dochterman. “Just dive in!” she said. “Be prepared to laugh at yourself, be on your feet a lot, work with your hands a lot, and make people very, very happy!”
Salary potential: The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t track chocolatier salaries. As a comparison of potentially similar careers, bakers earned a mean annual wage of $27,920, according to May 2017 statistics. Pastry chefs, which are classified in the Chefs and Head Cooks category, earned a mean wage of $49,650.
Interior Designer

If your ideal day is spent trawling vintage stores and markets for unique accessories for your home, why wouldn’t you want to make a living doing the same for others? “My career definitely doubles as a lifestyle,” said John Linden, interior and furniture designer from Los Angeles. “I spend the majority of my time talking to clients about their aesthetic preferences and spatial needs. My job is essentially to synthesize those two things and come up with designs that the client likes.”
Linden says one of the most enjoyable parts of his job is the back and forth between himself and the client. “I get to collaborate for all kinds of people who have different tastes than I do,” he said. Interior designers also have to spend a lot of time researching. “I’m constantly looking at contemporary trends and historical movements to get ideas,” he said. “Some of my favorite designs have been inspired by images I found in old text books and catalogs.”
To anyone who likes the idea of being an interior designer, Linden has the following advice: “Do some serious self-evaluation first. Are you the type of person who can hold yourself accountable for maintaining a rigorous schedule? If you’re a designer who can wake up and put 10 to 12 hours of work in each day without having a boss looking over your shoulder, this could be a great job for you.”
Salary potential: According to the BLS, interior designers earn a mean annual wage of $58,210.
Realtor

Most people crave a career with flexibility, and this is why being a Realtor is perfect for Warburg Realty’s Steven Gottlieb. “I don’t know of any other job that provides this amount of flexibility with this much upside potential to make money,” he said. “Everyone interacts with real estate, so it’s always a relevant conversation — no matter who you talk to.”
This means business can be done anywhere, from a spin class to a charity event. “I had to go out of town for a wedding,” said Gottlieb. “Over the course of the week I was away, I completed a negotiation over the phone, was introduced to another NYC-based wedding guest who bought an apartment from me later that same year, had drinks with a Hollywood client who had sold her NYC pied-à-terre through me and wanted to buy another one, took more than one conference call with NYC clients, and went on an open house tour with an L.A. agent who refers me business.”
Like so many careers, technology provides the flexibility Realtors and real estate agents need to do a lot of their work on-the-go or out of town. “This enables us to juggle the demands of NYC life in the way a traditional 9-to-5 in an office just can’t,” said Gottlieb. “The work-life-balance is mine to navigate and mine to allocate. I can accomplish work goals and generate new business anywhere I go at any time of day or year, but I can also run personal errands during the work day.”
Salary potential: According to the BLS, real estate sales agents earn a mean annual wage of $59,630.
Stress Management Coach

With about 80 percent of us feeling stressed in our daily lives, professionals who have the expertise to help us reduce our stress levels are more in demand than ever. Take stress management coach Ericka Eller, for example. She helps high-achieving women manage their stress to beat burnout and recover from adrenal fatigue.
“I stepped into this career full-time after experiencing my own burnout, twice,” said Eller. “Recovering from burnout required me to completely shift how I work and what I say yes to, and make health a priority in my life. I realized how important it is for women to invest in help so they may manage stress from a new perspective.”
For Eller, this career path has provided her with a completely new lifestyle. “I practice what I preach, focusing on approaching stress from a different mindset,” she said. “I love getting to teach women what I wish I would have put into practice prior to experiencing adrenal fatigue.”
Speaking about the importance of stress management and creating time each day to focus on health has allowed Eller to experience more joy in her life and thrive in her health, relationships and career. “I am a better wife, mom, friend and coach when I manage my stress in a healthy way,” she said.
Salary potential: The BLS doesn’t track stress management coaches. Marriage and family therapists, however, earn a mean annual wage of $53,860. Coaches make a mean wage of $42,540.