Week #39 Announced - Martial Arts Instructor

This week I will be working as a Martial Arts Instructor at Dojang Studios in Vancouver, BC. Dojang combines numerous forms and styles from the traditional and modern combative arts and is defined as 'a place to study the way.' The founders of Dojang are Robert & Emma Lynds and they opened up the studio in February 2004. They offer adult and personal training programs, kids programs, youth programs, kids camps as well as women's only classes.

I will be participating/assisting in classes throughout the week; learning about the practice of Dojang, teaching techniques, how to train someone one on one, what it takes to run a martial arts studio... (there was some mention of a sumo wrestling suit, involving me acting as a punching bag, so that could get interesting).

I have been involved in sports throughout my life, though martial arts was something that I never gave a try so I am excited to learn more about the practice! Though I have a feeling I might be a little sore after this week.

-Sean

A Taste Of Wine Country: The Yakima Valley

It was a tonne of information to absorb this week, though my liver handled it quite well. It's amazing how easily Pat and Matt at Two Mountain Winery can distinguish between different varieties and vintages. There is definitely a lingo that is associated with the wine world and the ability to articulate even the slightest of flavors. I am still at the, "That ones good, but I don't like the other one" stage in my tasting development.

The winery is located out in the country and the vineyard is beautiful. I would love to come back during summer when everything is green. We were able to take the 4 wheelers for a ride through the vineyard which was a lot of fun and I learned how to properly prune. It is a lot of work being a Winemaker and I think I got off pretty easy this week; Matt was telling me that during harvest time it is not unusual for them to be working 18 hour days!

On Saturday, John with the Yakima Visitors Bureau took me out to other wineries in the region so that I could see the spectrum ranging from big corporate wineries to small independent family run operations. There are around 60 wineries in the Yakima Valley so it was great to go for a tour and get a "taste."

I love small towns. The couple of times when I ventured into the small town of Zillah for lunch with Pat, I got many interesting looks. One woman looked at me with a smile and said, "You're not from round here are ya?" Not sure what gave it away.

Before I knew it, it was time to leave. John and Katie were so nice to meet me at the airport with a beautiful gift basket and some Yakima post cards. Everyone was so kind and welcoming to me which helped make it a really fun week.

A special thanks to Bellair Charters who provided me with a complimentary ride on The Airporter Shuttle from Yakima to Seattle, WA and then North to the Canadian border where my parents were waiting to pick me up.

I will be working in Vancouver this week so that I can be home for the holidays. It has been a while since I have been home and so I am really looking forward to spending some time with my family.

-Sean

New Episode! Week #35 - Fashion Buyer

The long wait is over! Here's Sean's week as a Fashion Buyer in Manhattan. Sorry it took a while to complete this episode; there was quite a lot of information and footage from this week, so it was definitely a challenge. But hopefully, at over 11 minutes of goodness, it was worth the wait!

Thanks again to everyone who made it a great job: Global Purchasing Companies, Vacation Vocations, Stylesight Trend Reporting, Iceberg Army and Navy, Clementine Vintage Clothing, and everyone else we missed.

Note about future episodes: given the amount of time and effort it takes to craft each episode, from now on, I'll be releasing shorter vignettes instead of longer clips. This way, I can have the video updates out sooner and it gives me time to organize and collect all the footage from each week.

Good Morning America Segment

In case you missed it, here's Sean's segment from Good Morning America broadcast on November 23. Enjoy!

My First Lesson In The Art Of Wine Making

I arrived in the Yakima Valley region two nights ago. On the plane, they warned us that due to weather conditions we might have to turn around and head back to Seattle, WA, though fortunately we made it. I was also advised on the plane by a Yakima local that the wines of the Yakima Valley are going to overtake the wines of France in the next century. "They will be recognized as the best wines of the world," he said. As I sipped my complimentary glass of wine I thought to myself, "I am in for a treat."

I like airports. What makes them even more enjoyable is when you arrive at your destination and somebody is there waiting for you with a sign. Makes you feel important. Well, I am happy to report, that Wendy and Katie from the Yakima Visitors Bureau were there to pick me up, sign in hand. Very cool.

I had my first day on the vineyard yesterday and I learned so much. I am trying to soak in as much as I possible can about wine making, wine terminology, what to look for in a good wine, what makes a good wine...

The two owners of Two Mountain Winery, Matthew and Patrick, had a lot of patience with me as I continually asked questions throughout the day about pretty much everything. They have been really great and I am happy to be here.

Also, turns out I came at a good time of year. It is the time when they taste the previous vintages to compare them and see how they are aging. I was able to taste different varieties over the past 4 years. It takes a practiced palate to identify all the various flavors that different varieties contain. So, I have decided that I will commit more time to studying over the holidays!

-Sean

Week #38 Announced - Vintner

I received an email last week from John Cooper of the Yakima Valley Visitors Bureau who was excited to bring me out to the region to learn the craft of making wines. I always wanted to learn more about the wine making process. So, this week I find myself in Yakima, WA where I will be a Vintner (Winemaker) working with Patrick and Matthew Rawn at Two Mountain Winery out in the Rattlesnake Hills area of Yakima Valley.

I will be trained in the various duties of a small winery such as, managing the ‘topping’ process, testing the sulfite levels in the wine, taste testing to figure out blends for this years fresh pick...

Should be good times!

-Sean

Farewell To Pizza, Farewell To Cape Cod

One thing that continues to amaze me about One Week Job is the incredible people I meet and relationships that I make along the way. Complete strangers openly welcome us into their homes and treat us just like another member of the family. It's remarkable how in just one week, it is possible to develop such strong ties.

Looking back over the weeks, I've found my actual job duties play a small part in whether I have a positive or negative experience. When 52 weeks are over, it is all the great people I met and the relationships I developed along the way that I will remember. Whether I have the "best" or "worst" job in the world for the week is not important - the thing that makes any moment special is the people we share them with.

I am often asked, "What has been your favorite job so far?" They have all been so different and it is difficult to say, though all of the weeks that stand out in my mind are the ones where the experience was as much about learning the ropes of a particular profession as it was making some new friends.

This week was a perfect example of how quickly we can make new connections when among such warm people. The local Cape Cod newspaper came into Sweet Tomatoes on my second day to do a story. After the interview, the reporter asked if I was related to Irene and Darren - based simply on the ease of our interaction.

When this project is over, it is without a doubt that Ian and I will have a lot of visiting to do. Not only that, but I'll have to make sure that I have lot's of space for guests to come visit me, wherever I end up.

-Sean

The Pizza Play By Play

A local news crew dropped by Sweet Tomatoes this week. They were pretty funny and produced quite the quirky video. They refer to me as both Seth and Sean in the same piece. Only on the Cape! Here it is:

The Art of Slinging Pizzas on Cape Cod

They say everything happens for a reason. Perhaps we weren't supposed to get on that plane to Florida Tuesday morning, and instead we were meant to come to Osterville Cape Cod. I don't know. I can say though, I am glad we are here. I had received an email from Irene and Darren (Sweet Tomatoes Pizza) just over a month ago asking me to come to their small village of Osterville, MA, located on Cape Cod. They sounded like fun, so I put it in the back of my mind.

When I called Irene out of the blue from the airport, explained our situation and asked if we could hop on a bus and work with them at Sweet Tomatoes, she immediately said, "Perfect, That's great, we would love to you have you." I knew as I hung up the phone with them it would be a great experience.

They met us with a big hug and kiss when we arrived and away we went to take a tour of the village on route to their home. Ian and I are staying in their guest house above the garage, which couldn't be more perfectly suited for us. Two beds, wireless internet, unlimited long distance, the fridge was full with cookies, orange juice, beer, fruit was on the table. They have spoiled us.

I am really happy that we are here. It has been really busy this last week, trying to deal with all the emails, phone calls, and figure out where I would like to see the project go. It was overwhelming and I had gotten away from just having fun and enjoying the experience.

Coming here has been really refreshing, humbling, and authentic. It has reminded me that this is what makes One Week Job such an awesome adventure, connecting with people, and learning about why they love their jobs.

Yesterday, I got my first pizza making lesson. How to roll the dough, spread the secret sauce, sprinkle the cheese, and toss it in the oven. The crust is rolled with a rolling pin normally, but I decided to attempt the "spin over the head" move that I've always wanted to try. The result? It's much harder than it looks.

But I was able to serve up some sweet looking pizza pies. Tomorrow we have a special delivery for the local Kindergarten class, which should be fun.

- Sean

Stuck in the Airport, and Week #37 Announced - Pizza Maker

Today, Sean and I woke up early. We packed our bags, and stole out into the crisp Manhattan morning, bidding goodbye to our sanctuary for the past 3 weeks. I hailed a taxi, and we rode out to La Guardia airport as the sun rose behind billowing grey clouds. The plan was to head South - to Atlanta, then board another bus to Fort Walton in Florida. Sean was to be a firefighter.

Instead, a funny thing happened. And by funny I mean, in that retrospective way afterwards once the whole anger thing has blown over.

Basically Sean asked me to book the plane tickets for today, Dec 4, from New York to Atlanta. Somehow I ended up booking the tickets on Dec 18 by mistake. We found this out while trying to checkin at the counter. It pretty much felt like a scene that should be in a "real" reality-show.

After the initial surprise, we tried re-booking our tickets for today. Hmm, the flights today were $200 more expensive than we paid. Any chance getting on standby? Nadda. Well, at least we can get a credit for future flights right? Nope. Turns out there's a $100 charge to change your ticket (the ticket itself was only $87). Thanks American Airlines.

So after some discussion, we decided the best choice of action was to accept another job offer, this one in Cape Cod. Sean will be a pizzamaker with Sweet Tomatoes Pizza in Osterville, Massachusetts.

It sounds like a pretty fun gig - and Cape Cod we're told is beautiful area. So, away we go!

- Ian

"You've Got To Find What You Love"

Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, gave the 2005 commencement speech for Stanford University. It is quite insightful and I think re-assuring to those who find themselves in a similar situation to myself. You can find the entire speech here: Watch it or Read it

Here are the points that I will take away from it:

On connecting the dots;

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something â€" your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

On finding what you love;

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

On our limited amount of time;

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything â€" all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."

On listening to yourself;

"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Enjoy!

-Sean

New Episode! Week #34 - Baker

Here it is, Sean's week as a Baker in Brooklyn, NY. We can honestly say it was the tastiest week of the entire project. Also, a special thanks to Vocation Vacations who saw what we were doing and helped hook us up with One Girl Cookies.

Let us know what you think of the episode!

And That's How Yahoo Crashed Our Server

Today started out as a day like any other. A day of breakfast, a cup of coffee - your basic productive morning. Sean worked on answering his emails, setting up his next jobs, and preparing for his current one as New York photographer. And then...we realized the site was down. We tried loading it a few times. Nothing. Intrigued, we wondered if it was a momentary glitch or if we were getting a massive influx of traffic. We had survived the New York Times article that came out yesterday. So why shouldn't the site survive this current hiccup of visitors?

Suddenly, a friend sent me an email, "Hey just saw the article on the front page of Yahoo.com, congrats!" And the light bulb clicked. (Or "went on", depending on your metaphor).

Turns out the front page of Yahoo linked to the NYTimes article, which of course, included a link to One Week Job. Hence, the crushing weight of thousands of visitors hurtling down the vast tubes of the internet, attempting to view our site. Unfortunately, rather than step up to the task, our server ran screaming into the night.

Sean and I scrambled to get at least a basic page up. (You may have noticed the sparse homepage morphing with each page reload). We threw a brief outline of the project, Sean's email, and just in case, his phone number. Within seconds, the phone started ringing.

"Hi! Is this Sean?" "Hey, Sean?" "Hola! Is this the One Week Job guy?"

Sean fielded the calls, but quickly realized it was a lost battle. There was no way to answer every ring with 10 more flooding his call waiting. We made the executive decision and took his phone number off the site. As if in immediate response, his email begin trickling upward with each passing minute. 40. 45. 62. 89. Over 100 and they just kept coming.

What's an overwhelmed job seeker to do?

The only thing we could - he let the emails wait and headed out to his One Week Job. The show (or in this case, photo shoot) must go on. After setting up the location, and learning the art of photography from behind the lens, Sean was called upon to stand in as a model. But you might say this photo shoot is a little...unorthodox.

As I type now from a loft in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan, NY, Sean is dressed in a pair of pajamas, sitting in a bathtub, pretending to brush his teeth. With two other pajama-clad men. And a woman. I think there's even a rubber ducky. When you see the photos, you'll understand.

In the meantime, he asked me to thank everyone for their emails and support (which has been incredible!) and he'll try his best to send a reply after stumbling home tonight after the shoot.

If you're brand new to the project, welcome! Feel free to check out the previous weekly episodes, our photos, and Sean's reflections from the road.

-- Ian

Finding An Eye For Manhattan

I met with James yesterday morning at his apartment in Lower Manhattan. He gave me an idea as to what future photo shoots he had in mind and what kind of location he would need. He said that he wanted a modern, simple, sleek, clean look, with some depth to it. So I hit the streets with camera in hand cruising the mid-town Manhattan area in search of the perfect photo shoot location. I think that I had a good idea of what he was looking for and took a bunch of photos, though I will find out this morning when I meet with James to go over them. Here is on of them.
If you will be near a news stand today (Thursday), there is a column about One Week Job in the Style section of The New York Times.

Week #36 Announced - Photographer

This week I am working as a Photographer in Manhattan, NY with James Carmen, Director of Photography. James has worked all over the world, shooting commercials, film shorts, documentaries and features. This week we will be focusing on his role as a Photographer. We met last night for coffee and discussed what we would be up to for the week. One task will be to scout out locations in the city for future photo shoots. Picture me on a bike, with a camera, weaving my way through traffic in downtown Manhattan armed with a vague idea of what kind of scene he is looking to portray. Should be fun!

He also had some interesting ideas for photo shoots that hopefully we will be able to pull together before the end of the week. I will be sure to post some photos!

-Sean

I Do My Little Turn On The Catwalk

We've had a lot of fun the past few days with Mercedes and her husband Aldo in Margaretville, NY. They are truly great people and have been so incredibly kind to us! Yesterday at the shop wasn't too crazy. Helping out customers trying on different outfits was definitely the highlight. They would come out, I would offer them constructive feedback, (given my new found fashion knowledge). I also dressed a mannequin - which was a lot more difficult then I first thought.

Today, I somehow found myself in a charity fashion show in a neighboring town. We went for lunch in the town yesterday to meet with one of Mercedes' friends who owns a store there. Turns out she needed a guy to be in the fashion show she was organizing today.

So, there I was, the only guy amongst a troupe of 16 year old girls strutting my stuff down a cat walk in front of the town. It was actually a lot of fun and I ended up doing a little bit of dancing on stage because the emcee was egging me on.

Tomorrow we head back to Manhattan, where I still am not entirely sure where I will be working as of yet, though I do have some ideas.

A special thanks to VocationVacations who connected me with my last two One Week Jobs; Baker and Fashion Buyer. VocationVacation allows you to test out your dream job. They set you up with a mentor who is in a profession that you think you would enjoy. The Vocation Vacation allows you to see if it’s right for you over the course of a few days before making any drastic changes.

-Sean

p.s. Here's a little dance I cooked up at Mercedes shop.

Looking For My Next 'One Week Job'

I still haven't decided where I will be working next week, though I would like to stay in the New York city area for two more weeks. If you have any ideas/contacts, send me an email or give me a call! Or, if you have any One Week Job offers anywhere else in the world for that matter, send those my way too!

-Sean

Schooled On The World Of Fashion

I have been put to the test this week, taken out of my comfort zone time and time again and continually being challenged. It's been great! Mercedes had a few clients come in that she handed off to me completely and it was up to me to take care of the whole meeting from start to finish - learning about what stage they are in the design process, seeing the products they have designed, and giving them my opinion on what steps they should take going forward. When she first told me, "Sean, you are handling the next meeting all by yourself," I was really nervous and thought to myself, what can I possibly tell this person that is going to help them out and not make me look like a complete idiot.

The first meeting was definitely a little awkward as I fumbled my way talking about the belts this guy had designed. They were actually really cool, though my knowledge of the belt market is limited. Here is a guy who recently designed a dress for Whoopi Goldberg and showcased it on the morning talk show, "The View." Then there is me, third day on the job, giving him my opinion whether I think his product will sell. Not sure if I managed to avoid that complete idiot thing.

We also visited the show room of the Zuccaro collection. The owner showed me the collection for Spring and Summer 2008 and it was up to me to pick out what I would like to buy based on what I learned will sell from my trend forecasting meeting on Monday. It was for a boutique based in Las Vegas. Though she wasn't happy to admit it, Mercedes was quite impressed with my choices saying that it usually takes much longer to train someone. Now if I could just learn how to dress myself!

We are now in Margaretville, NY for the weekend. Mercedes and her husband Aldo have a home up here and they were nice enough to bring us up for Thanksgiving dinner and escape the city for a few days. Tomorrow I will be working in Mercedes' retail store "Dig In." It is the biggest shopping day of the year, 'Black Friday,' with many stores opening their doors at four and five in the morning. Should be pretty exciting!

I will be back in Manhattan Sunday evening and am still not sure who I will be working with on Monday or where I will be sleeping. I would like to stay in New York city for two more weeks so if you have any ideas/contacts for potential One Week Jobs, let me know!

-Sean

New Episode! Week #31 - Aquarium Host

Hey everyone, here's Sean's week as an Aquarium Host in Atlanta, Georgia. Enjoy!

Week #35 Announced - Fashion Buyer

This week I am a Fashion Buyer with Global Purchasing Group in Manhattan. More on that later... right now I am going to be late for my first day of work! UPDATE:

The subway randomly deciding to stop a long the way didn't help out matters, though I wasn't too late getting to work yesterday morning. There were a couple of people waiting for me and as soon as I entered and we got off to a running start. Working in the fashion industry this week I thought twice about what I wore to work. Turns out my worries were justified. The first thing that my boss, Mercedes, said to me was, "Nice to see you dressed up for your first day working with a fashion company." Yes, she was being sarcastic.

I honestly didn't think I was dressed that bad and looking at others in the room I felt I fit in. Though now that I know Mercedes better and how nice she is, I think she was simply having some fun at my expense.

We had a meeting shortly after I arrived with two young guys who started their own label immediately after finishing design school, then it was off to meet with Sight Style, a trend forecasting company, to learn about what is going to be "on trend" for spring 2008. They took me through the different styles and color combinations that we can expect to see this coming Spring.

Industry buzz words like "body con," "retro," "architectural style," and "asymmetrical de-construction" have now been added to my vocabulary. It was a lot of information to digest though it will no doubt come in handy over the next few days as Mercedes has a lot of tasks planned for me that I will have to use what I learned to help me out.

If I can't look the part, at least I will be able to speak the part!

-Sean