Career Role Model: How To Love Your Job

Early in life, Jeanne McAlister kicked substance abuse. Now 79, she's been clean and sober for 55 years. Along the way, she discovered she wanted to work with people. She was good at it, and she yearned to dump her job as an executive secretary and work in what was then the human potential movement full-time. She seized the opportunity to change her life. Those of us at midlife could learn a lot from the decisions McAlister made.

Reinventing Her Job at Midlife

In her forties, McAlister got her chance to create a nonprofit and a job she would love for the rest of her life. First step was working for someone else as a program director for drug training seminars. Then, in 1977, she had the chance to launch her own nonprofit. "My boss quit the business, which left the rest of us up in the air. Most of my colleagues were struggling psychology students. I was married and had money – well, a little money. I formed the McAlister Institute so I could continue to work as a counselor."

She bid on two county contracts to run treatment programs and won one of them. That was the beginning. McAlister had a vision for a treatment program for women where their children could visit. She also believed the right location for a center was not downtown in the middle of the drug scene, but in a rural location, away from temptation.

She made both things happen. In year two, McAlister had three programs; today, there are more than 20 drug and alcohol treatment programs, all around San Diego, and recently expanding to northern California as well.

Meeting Challenges, Keeping a Long-Term Job Fresh

What was her biggest challenge in making her nonprofit work? "The obstacle is always cash flow, where you'll get the money. You need to make sure you can bring revenue immediately," McAlister says. For her institute, the county contracts brought in the necessary cash.

Over the long haul, a different challenge emerges: Running the same institution for a long time can lead to burnout. McAlister has a simple remedy for that. "Change things up. If you make coffee at 6 a.m., start doing it at 5:30. Brush your teeth with your left hand instead of your right. Little things things like can stop you from getting stagnant and prevent burnout."

The nature of McAlister's work offered another powerful remedy for burnout – witnessing your success. "Every time that I attend a graduation from one of my programs – and I attend them all – I see people who were hopeless and in total despair. Now they're talking about getting their kids back, having a car and a job," McAlister says. "That's how I'm refreshed. Paperwork, worrying about budget — all that is boring. You've got to see the results.

"If I were a CEO in construction I'd go watch the guys dig a hole." McAlister gets that payoff naturally. "I go to a restaurant, and someone will run out from the kitchen to say she went through the program and is clean and sober now.'"

In her seventies, McAlister has not dialed down her job. "I'm on 24-hour call for everything. I go to work around ten, having been on the phone since six. I'm there until ten at night. I'm not married anymore. My managers and staff have families, so I try to take the burden off them. I say to everyone, 'Call me after work hours. I know everything that's going on.'"

One of her two grandchildren now works at the Institute, working on curriculum, PR and social media. McAlister plans to keep going another decade. "I love most days, and I love going to work. If I ever quit, I would volunteer. I will never be someone who retires."

Read more about the McAlister Institute's programs and services.