Meet Jeremy Smith and hear his journey from sea turtle marine biologist to vintage picker and reseller.
Have you ever wondered how your childhood passions could shape your career? In this episode, Jeremy Smith shares his incredible journey from sea turtle marine biologist to vintage picker and reseller.
In this episode, you'll discover how growing up in a family that renovated old farmhouses and loved antiques gave Jeremy an eye for potential. Learn how a chance connection with his high school art teacher led him to sea turtle research. Hear how Jeremy found fulfillment by following his passions and creating his own unique career path.
Key Takeaways
Connect with Jeremy
Jenny Dempsey (00:00.17)
You can pick your own destiny. know that's it's sometimes that seems a lot harder to do than it sounds, but it really is that easy. You know, you can really do whatever you want. It's just whether or not you're willing to take that first kind of risk. and welcome to the career flipper, a weekly podcast featuring career change stories from people around the world.
in a variety of industries about how they get from point A to point B and all the twists and turns in between.
I'm Jenny Dempsey, your career flipping host. After more than a decade working in customer service and experience leadership in the tech world, as well as teaching online courses that are actually still online, check out Udemy, speaking at business conferences and mentoring customer service agents, I found myself laid off and despite my experience, I couldn't land a new job and I really started to question my worth. Then a friend gave me an old table. I saw potential.
I binged YouTube videos to learn how to fix it up and suddenly found joy in giving something unwanted a brand new chance at life. And this led me to start my furniture makeover and restoration business, San Diego Furniture Flipper. Alongside that, I now offer career flipping coaching and share inspiring stories through this podcast. I speak at events and I offer career transition coaching sessions. But despite all this, I was feeling alone and insecure about my new path.
Who really goes from the corporate tech world to covered in paint and sawdust in their garage? So I started to reach out to others I knew, like a few people who've also flipped their careers and hearing their stories inspired me. And it made me realize that it's totally okay to change direction at any point in life. And I realized there are way more people out there who flipped their careers just more than I've ever imagined. So that's why I started this podcast to share these incredible journeys and
Jenny Dempsey (02:00.718)
for support to anyone considering having been through or currently going through a career flip. They've really helped me and I really hope that they help you on your path.
Today, you'll meet Jeremy Smith, who made the wild jump from being a sea turtle marine biologist to a vintage picker. Yup, he finds old treasures, spruces them up, and sells them for a profit in San Diego. We chat about how sometimes you have no clue what you're doing, but just roll with the opportunities as they come. When one thing leads to another, you might even find yourself on a beach in cowboy boots. Trust me, it'll make sense soon. From family roots to handpicking his career path,
Jeremy's story is a fun ride. Let's dive in. Jeremy, hello, welcome. Hi, thanks for having me. my gosh, absolutely. This is super cool. I can't wait for you to share your story. Then... I'm just going to jump into it. Jeremy, tell me your Curfew Flip story. Let's get this going. Okay. Well, I think it started a long time ago as a child.
parents decided that they wanted to move from the city to the country. And when that happened, we moved into a really old stone farmhouse. And it was kind of in shambles. And over the next 10 years of my childhood through teenage years,
we renovated the house basically by ourselves. My dad had this amazing vision of this end product, which is now, you know, this gorgeous, gorgeous house in the Hills of Pennsylvania with a stream running through the backyard through all that construction and renovation. I got to learn.
Jenny Dempsey (04:10.894)
so much. mean, I was working with, you know, sledgehammers and cement trucks and all that stuff from the age of eight years old through when I graduated high school and ended up going to college in Tennessee. So we did a whole bunch of stuff and I learned a lot about how
make things look cool and my dad's vision of things and how it actually came to life. I was able to see that firsthand and help. So I think that helped kind of form my vision or my eye, if you will, I guess, of what things can be.
you know, potential of things. And my dad was really big into antiques. So he, you know, every other day would be bringing stuff in and taking stuff out. And that's kind of how my life is now, where it's kind of a revolving door of, different cool items that I bring in and out of my house. His dad, my grandfather was also involved
antiques. had a antique mall in the little hometown that I grew up in and he would have auctions every Thursday night. My grandmother would be in the back making chili dogs. My grandfather would be sitting up at the auction table with the auctioneer and here's little Jeremy running around.
showing people all the items that they're bidding on. know, it was just kind of a way of life for me. didn't realize, you know, I was being educated at the same time on on the antique world. It was really cool to kind of grow up as I guess you could say I'm like a third generation picker, right? Yeah.
Jenny Dempsey (06:31.564)
What a great bonding experience too with your family, all the memories you have and just that's just a special way to connect with your family. Absolutely. The antiques and just being able to grow up in that in that house, you know, I think is is is a huge part of of what makes me see things maybe a little differently, you
And then, so you started here in this very what it sounds like nurturing environments, working with your family, taking old things, bringing them back to life, the house, the antiques and learning to have that attention to detail and potential. I love how you said that. You saw that from an early age. So you took that and then it sounds like you graduated from high school and you went to Tennessee
What did you study there? What were your goals at that time? So I went to school and had no idea what I wanted to do. And that sort of reflected in my performance because I didn't do so well. Yeah, academically. And I ended up, you know, doing a couple of years
in Tennessee. stayed there after I financial aid ran out. So I decided to take a job and I got into construction and worked for a general contractor. And that was extremely stressful. mean, I don't know if you've ever been around a construction work site, but man,
As a general contractor trying to get everyone on the same page and everything, was pretty stressful job. And honestly, I didn't really like it that much, but it was a great learning experience. And from that, I ended up, because I didn't like it so much, I started looking for stuff. I started looking for things that maybe I did like because I needed something. My soul was searching.
Jenny Dempsey (08:54.038)
You know, I was like, get me out of here. I know there's something else. You know, let's let's find something. So I started just kind of lobbing ideas into the air. And one of those ideas was to connect with my high school art teacher who is this serious turtle enthusiast guy. His name's Tom McFarland. He passed away.
couple of years ago now, but I ended up working for him doing art type stuff. He made full size sea turtle sculptures for museums, aquariums, stuff like that. So I started working for him on the weekends, doing this sculpture stuff, really cool. I mean, I loved it because I'm kind of an art guy. Yeah.
you know, we're like mixing clay and painting things and fiberglass. through that, I ended up going to a conference with him, a sea turtle conference, because he would sell t -shirts and these sculptures and stuff like that. Yeah. And when I got to the conference, my eyes just blew up. I was like, what in the world is this place? Wow. Yeah. Look at all these cool
tan people that work on beaches. You know what I mean? I was just blown away that this was like a career that these people had and I had no idea that it even existed. So I basically was like, I need to find a job doing this. So there was a job board and
contacted one of the people that happened to be at the conference and the guy I was with Tom McFarland knew him and we sat down at dinner, very casual, just talked about the job and the guy was like, you're perfect. When can you start? And I was like, I can be there in two weeks, Florida. Wow. Yeah. So I packed up my little Volkswagen and drove from Pennsylvania down to Florida.
Jenny Dempsey (11:19.95)
moved into a trailer right on the beach, the mangrove forest at John D. MacArthur Beach State Park and started my life as a sea turtle researcher. It was totally mind blowing. I was like, where am I? What is happening? Is this real? I'm like some farm kid from Pennsylvania
You know, one of the people that I met vividly remembers the first day she met me because I was wearing boots on the beach. On the beach! What a vision right there. That's funny. Yeah. I ended up doing sea turtle research for, you know, the next five years and continued on with the marine biology stuff, being in the marine biology world.
after Florida, you know, I did that for a few years. I ended up working in Barbados with sea turtles and later in St. Croix with sea turtles. so anyway, that stuff opened my eyes to like, hey, you can pick your own destiny. I know that's it's sometimes that seems a lot harder to do than it sounds.
But it really is that easy. And I believe, you know, you can really do whatever you want. It's just whether or not you're willing to take that first kind of risk. But it really did pay off for me. And I'm so thankful that I did that. And I'm so thankful for Tom McFarland and introducing me into that world and everyone else that I've met along the way through that have been great people and fun to work with.
that kind of led me to San Diego where I am now. I got a job doing a sea camp San Diego. So I worked with kids like a marine biology setting, teaching them about marine mammals and invertebrates. And we would take them out on boats whale watching and we would take them scuba diving and go to, you know, the islands off of
Jenny Dempsey (13:42.614)
the coast of Southern California for like week long trips. mean like dream trips, right? Yeah, amazing. I want to go. I know. Like I honestly feel like everybody should go. It's like so educational. One, just fun. Yeah. I mean, you're just out in the sun having a good time. So after that, I ended up doing some work with
La Jolla kayak. I worked there for two years and I got to tell you that was a super fun job. Just taking people, you know, out in kayaks and showing them the marine life and all that kind of thing. That was super fun. I got a job working for San Diego Whale Watch and I was a naturalist. So I was the guy on the microphone saying, Hey folks, we got a whale over here at three o 'clock.
talking about the whales and dolphins and everything else that we can find here off the coast of Southern California leading up to where I am now. So I am a vintage reseller. Sometimes I struggle to find the right word to call myself when people ask what I do. When did that switch kind of happen? Because it kind of brings you back to your roots in a way. so you're doing all this amazing, you know, you're
giving tours and teaching people about the ocean, marine life, and then you go back to your roots. So when did that, like how did that come back into your life? I'm curious to hear about that. Transitioning from the whale watching job as a naturalist, I was getting burnt out. I wasn't making very much money. Of course, that's kind of the deal as a whale watching tour guide. You're not gonna get rid. I would go to St. Croix for three months out of the year.
to do the turtle stuff. When I came back that last time, I was like, I do not want to go back into whale watching. It was an amazing part of my life. I spent every day out on the water, but I'm ready for something new. I just decided that I was going to start selling stuff because I knew that I was good at it. I mean, it's always kind of been a hobby to find treasure and fix it up, sell it sometimes, sometimes not, but this hobby I had.
Jenny Dempsey (16:06.038)
I knew I was good at it. I knew if I put a little time into it, maybe I could make this something real. I think it took me a year to fully comprehend its way that I'm doing what I'm doing because I'm making money and I'm paying my bills and I'm doing everything that society wants us to do, but I'm doing it a little differently. I think for some reason I thought it wasn't...
going to be a real job for me, even though I was treating it like a real job. But like in the back of my mind, I was thinking like, I can't just like really do this. But over the last five years, I've proven to myself that I can and I can do it well. A lot of very interesting people are doing the same thing that I'm doing. So that kind of reinforces that it's okay.
to do it. I don't know if other people have that feeling. I feel almost like a fraud or something. Like I'm cheating somehow or I don't know where that feeling comes from and I hate it. I it. know, it's like is that? But I think it might go back to the people don't understand it. But then people were like, this is the most amazing job. How do you do this? This is so cool. I wish I could do this.
type of thing. I don't know. It's just an odd, odd thing overcome. I hear you on that very, very loudly. That feeling of the fraud, the being a bit of an imposter, you know, that imposter syndrome kind of coming through because it is, it's kind of one of those things where, maybe you've had these experiences where, yeah, there's so many people that are like saying this is awesome. And then you tell a couple people, like maybe it's only like one or two people and they're like, that's your
and they raise their eyebrows and they think it's weird or it's different. And I don't know if you're the same way, but then I hold onto that and I'm like, I got a hundred people over here that are supporting me and cheering me on and think it's awesome. And I got two people saying, what are you doing? That is a terrible idea. Wiggling their eyebrows, you're going like, that's dumb. And I'm listening to those more. And then I feel the fraud coming in and that sometimes, I don't know, that kind of turns things up. I, hearing you say all this and like your journey of
Jenny Dempsey (18:22.688)
you were open to these different ideas and from sea turtle art to actually then going and researching the real deal. And I'm a huge ocean fan and I love sea turtles and just hearing that it's like you never saw that coming and you saw this different life for yourself. You weren't sure what it was. And then you took this chance and you're like, you're the farm boy on the beach with the boots, you know, and now you're living this new existence and you created it and you were going with the flow and
It took you to amazing places with amazing people. And then you came back to your roots and it kind of became that thing where it sounds like what I was hearing you say. was like, you had that in the back of your mind, like, maybe, maybe not. Like, maybe this isn't the, I'm so glad you pushed through that. like so glad because it sounds like your heart is in this and you're doing amazing things out there. And I always love to say, especially with old furniture and things like that, you're giving it another chance at life.
these well -made things that shouldn't be in the dumpster, that shouldn't be, you in someone's attic. Like you're bringing it into your home. You're bringing it into other people's homes and you're connecting with people through that. And I'm so glad you don't listen to that fraud voice in your head because you are not, like you are doing great work and paving your own path. And that is something that so many people may not feel they can do.
And then they hear stories like this and suddenly it's like, maybe, maybe I could. Maybe even if I feel that imposter in my head telling me I could still go do it anyways. Absolutely. I think that probably stems from when I did take the first sea turtle job. I think it was one of those things where I was like wondering if it was real and my parents were like, when are you gonna get a real job?
You know, this is fun, but where are you going? I never had an answer for that. And I always felt bad. You know, there was like a little voice in my head saying like, you're not doing this right. You're not doing this right. You need to do something that gets you a 401k and salary. And to me, that meant a job I didn't want. And I fought that for so long. There was this turning point, I think.
Jenny Dempsey (20:44.554)
My parents came to visit me in Florida and I took them out on the beach one night to watch a sea turtle nest. And if you've ever done that, it's pretty magical, right? The waves are flowing in and the stars are out and you're watching this like prehistoric beast lay eggs in the sand. Like what is happening? I remember my mom and dad sort of looking at things a little differently after that, respecting my choice to be
Wow, what a journey. Like, Jeremy, thank you for sharing all this. I want people to connect with you. they have questions or they wanna pick your brain or they wanna see what you're up to? How can they connect with you? How can they find you? I am on Instagram, Vintage Air. So I combined the two. It sounds so cheesy. Every time I say it, I'm like, God, get a new name.
You're good. We'll have it linked in the chat. Yeah, okay. It's creative. It's yours. It's yours. Yeah, I guess so. Well, I hope everyone connects with you, Jeremy. Your story is incredible and it's just the true testament to like you can create your own path even when you don't necessarily know what it looks like. When opportunities show up, you'll know. And thank you so much
Taking the time to share and I appreciate you so much. Well, thank you. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Career Flipper. Be sure to connect with Jeremy using the links in the show notes. If you got something out of this episode, I hope you'll share it with a friend.
Make sure to rate and review the show and hit that subscribe button for more flipping stories like Jeremy's every Thursday. Your support helps me reach more career flippers and future flippers to be, spreading the love, support, and motivation we all need on this journey.
Jenny Dempsey (22:41.258)
And if you ever need a Career Flippin' speaker for your event, want to sponsor the podcast, or just want to say hi and share your story, pop over to thecareerflipper .com. I'd love to hear from you. Keep on your path, my friend. What's the best that could happen? Talk to you next week.