Decisions

I have a major decision to make here. I have been offered the chance to brew as an assistant at a brew pub. I have been wishing for this opportunity for the last 3 years and now it is here. Catch is I would be taking a 63% pay cut. I think it is doable as long as the wife finds good employment and we can find reasonable daycare. I guess it really comes down to the price for following your passion and if that price is worth it. I know what my heart is telling me, but my practical nature is telling me different.

Is there no opportunity for promotion to something bigger within the company or opportunities elsewhere after you have some some pro brew experience under your belt?

If you think you have a year or two at a lower pay grade with opportunity to advance after that, I think it is worth it. If you could conceivably languish as an assistant brewer indefinitely, then I would say its not fair to you or your wife.

Also, could you do the assistant work part time and keep your current job?

I could guess the responses you will get on here, and assume that is the answer you're looking for. Is your wife supportive of the change? These are not opportunities that will come up often.

CreamyGoodness said:

Also, could you do the assistant work part time and keep your current job?

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This.

Talk to the brewery.. if they have a heart, I don't see why you can't work something out. There's nothing saying you can't brew at night or on weekends.

Good luck!

Oh there is opportunity to advance and move up. My personal goal would be to be in line for a head position in 2 years.

She is supportive and understands that this is an opportunity that doesn't come along very often, its all financial. I make decent money now, and we struggle from time to time, we almost have all our big debt paid off, but with two young kids and daycare a necessity its hard to justify the pay cut.

And yes, I was counting on that answer from here. It's really a question of whether or not the juice is worth squeeze.

brewmcq said:

This.

Talk to the brewery.. if they have a heart, I don't see why you can't work something out. There's nothing saying you can't brew at night or on weekends.

Good luck!

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Not an option. It would require a move and is a full time brewing position.

Schemy said:

Not an option. It would require a move and is a full time brewing position.

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Of course it's not an option... that would make everything so much easier.. and as we all know, there is NOTHING easy when it comes to brewing. ;-)

I certainly cant tell you how to live your life, nor would I want to, but it seems to me that this is little different from going back to school for a year or two to get a better job.

My wife left the grind of working for lunatics in marketing to pursue an internship in... or all things... cheese. The internship turned into a job, which turned into a promotion, which turned into another promotion. We did two years with her income less than half of what she was making working for sleezeballs. In the end, for us at least, barring some sort of unforseen change, it was well worth it.

I would encourage you to think of what serves your wife & children's needs the best. Sometimes being a man means sacrificing your own desires to serve the needs of your wife and kids. Not saying don't do it by any means - it may be that having a dad/husband who is fulfilled by and enjoys his work does serve them better....just encouraging you to think of their needs first.

TyTanium said:

I would encourage you to think of what serves your wife & children's needs the best. Sometimes being a man means sacrificing your own desires to serve the needs of your wife and kids. Not saying don't do it by any means - it may be that having a dad/husband who is fulfilled by and enjoys his work does serve them better....just encouraging you to think of their needs first.

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+1 to this.

That is a hell of a pay cut to chase a dream... What a dream it is though!

Lets face it, I think you already made the decision to go, you just want to make sure no one shouts something like "DONT DO IT MY BROTHER DID THAT LAST YEAR AND HE WAS THE VICTIM OF A FREAK MASH TUN ACCIDENT AND HIS WIFE RAN OFF WITH THE SEPTIC TANK EMPTIER GUY!"

Believe me I wish it was this easy. I am completely torn. I know what I want to do, but I'm not sure the sacrifice will be worth it. My wife is employed in non-profit, so not much money there. This move gets me into the industry, but there are no guarantees. I've talked myself into and out of it a hundred times so far. This is just another outlet for me to think it through.

I was trying to make you smile in light of what has got to be a stressful situation.

Is there a chance you could supplement your income with something else? Not that I love the idea of people having to work 2 jobs...

I assume 2 jobs would be a bad idea with the kids at home. It is high risk high reward, and that is the scary part. Sometimes we need to take the risk, but we need to make sure our parters are willing to take it with us.

There will be some changes, and some very tight financial planning. Might have to let go of some luxuries.

Second job is probably not a real option. Commitments to the brewery would include releases and festivals. Plus the fact of having youngsters at home.

Well I passed on the opportunity. It was a great way to get into the brewing community and would have been great to be able to follow my passion. Ultimately it wasn't the right thing for my family.

I'm going to go throw up now.

Best of luck.

Hang in there buddy! Honestly, sounds like you did right by your family which was the right thing to do.

I am sorry that you had to pass up such an amazing opportunity and I feel your pain. I am proud of you though thinking about the greater good rather than being selfish and possibly making life more difficult on your entire family. My advice would have been to sit down with your family and talk it through and decide it together, but then again none of us here know anything of your life situation other than you are a member of the brotherhood of homebrewers. You never know. Maybe this type of opportunity will come back around when situations are more forgiving. Be positive.

I shall raise some homebrew after work today in your and the job that got away's honor tonight.

When I really put pen to paper and listed my goals and our family goals, it actually became an easy decision. Thanks for the support.

Contrary to popular opinion, lightning *does* strike more than once.. and opportunity will continuously knock on your door... keep your eyes and ears open.

Congrats on making a tough decision. I know I would have felt like throwing up either way. No regrets, no looking back; it sounds like you and your wife are a good team, and you will be rewarded for putting the family's well-being first.