The story line is perfect. Super successful designer (Stefan Sagmeister) waves good-bye to clients (HBO, the Rolling Stones, Time Warner) every seven years for a one-year
sabbatical. The shop (Sagmeister Inc.) is closed. Ideas generated during the sabbatical year fuel the creative genius and the firm’s bottom line grows substantially during the next six years - all a result of the one-year sabbatical.
Sagmeister is on his second sabbatical.
Stefan Sagmeister
Our company, yourSABBATICAL.com, couldn’t make up a more compelling business case for sabbaticals. Since our mission is to make certain that EVERY PERSON has sabbatical opportunities as part of their career, we’re happy to let Stefan talk on and on. And we couldn’t ask for a better looking spokesperson. He’s rugged-looking cute.
It would be surprising if you haven’t seen his presentation, The Power of Time Off, at the 2009 TED conference. Afterwards, the blog world lit up as Sagmeister’s novel logic – “take your retirement years and intersperse them into your work life”– inspired and surpised many. My post about “taking a Sagmeister” was one of a gazillion.
Two months later when Sagmeister should have been doomed to Susan Boyle’s current status (Where is she? Who was she?), here comes another slew of blogs -including one on Oct. 7, 2009 on the yourSABBATICAL blog -Sagmeister on Sabbaticals. All with more tweets and enormous gushing once again at this very “smart and unique” idea.
Before Sagmeister’s given saint status, let’s set the record straight. He’s not the only person who steps out of a successful career for a year long experience away from work. There are many successful people who employ the same strategy and you may not ever know of them.
So let me introduce two people who stepped away from successful careers for a year out. Both are in the first quarter of their sabbatical.
First there’s Eve Beglarian, composer and collaborator, who put her bright red kayak into the Mississippi River’s headwateron Aug. 1, 2009. She’ll glide the river until late November then head back upstream by car. With a small ensemble, she’ll travel and perform new works for and with residents in the very communities along the river that inspirted them. She’ll pick up the river and complete her year doing a long mosey til the end.
Why wasn’t she treated to tweets heard round the world after an article about her appeared in the New York Times? Lack of dollars in her bank account? Not as pretty as Sagmeister?
Another person is 27-year-old Manhattan resident Joseph Quaderer – an NYU MBA student and Director at Morgan Stanley. Why take a year away from a six-figure salary, a posh lifestyle with access to the best NYC clubs and restaurants, a luxury apartment, a Hampton’s summerhouse, a network of family and friends, a six-figure salary ?
Why, pray tell, in the middle of the worst economic crisis would he take a year out to wander the heart of Africa to work with disadvantaged Ugandan students? The pay doesn’t sound good, and I’m curious about the accommodations.
Good for all of us is the news that Joseph will be telling his story on this website so all of us can learn about his experience, his motivations and his day-to-day challenges. And look for a hint of regret, perhaps.
Watch for his blog posts soon. Meanwhile, don’t scoff at one-year sabbaticals and definitely don’t credit the idea as one lived out only by the rich and famous.
Could that be you in a red kayak or sporting a lion-claw necklace next year? Interesting thought.
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