Thea Madden has successfully followed at least 15 pursuits in her life and she's far from stopping, even at 58. She's been, just to name a few: a seamstress for rock stars; a scuba diving teacher; a medical care provider in Nigeria; a high security flight attendant; and has now started her own makeup line with an app to go with it. Oh, and then there's the cookbook line.
You could describe Thea as a serial entrepreneur, but at her core she is someone who has faced what many would consider a series of setbacks and turned them into opportunities.
Thea's First Jobs
The first twist came in 1972, when Thea was in Colorado, recently married and still in college. Having taught herself to sew, she became a custom seamstress; making costumes for icons such as singer songwriter Carole King. At 23, Thea bought the store she worked for, moved it to another location and expanded it to twice its original size.
She hit a crossroads when she was accepted to medical school (a lifelong dream) out of the country. But her husband "couldn't even begin to deal with the concept of moving - he was a Kansas boy and a pretty big deal in his own head, so we weren't going to be focusing too much on me." Instead, he wanted to return to Kansas.
Her Dream Deferred
Thea sold the store and moved with husband and child to a tiny town in Kansas, a "glitch in the highway" as she describes it. Her dream of becoming a doctor was put on the back burner, but she took medical courses, worked in the hospital, and became an EMT.
Being the multitasker that she is, Thea also took up quilting and porcelain painting, which she was taught by two 90 year old sisters. She began to be hired to recreate broken porcelain pieces as well as selling her own creations.
Life in Africa
Then, another fork. Her husband announced he had taken a job in Nigeria. "He came home and said, 'I'm leaving'," she recalls. By this time, Thea had two children as well as having settled into her busy life in Kansas and attending college full time. Her spouse left 8 days after his declaration, leaving Thea with no income, two children, and a house they had just bought that needed a complete renovation to be inhabitable. The porcelain and quilting began to pay the bills and Thea managed to finish the house. When her husband came to visit six months later, Thea chose to go with him when he went back to Nigeria. She prepared by taking courses in trauma medicine, and when they were settled in a remote village, a ten hour drive from the capital Lagos, she says, "I did medical care in the village - actually, I was the medical care."
There was only intermittent electricity and running water, and the temperature was often stifling, but true to form, Thea found the positive. "The thing I had to do for myself was recognize that women were slightly less valuable than goats and I need to adapt. I looked at my marriage and I benefited from the things he made difficult. He was very jealous, so I learned to enjoy my own company and I had a great time with my kids. I got involved with what was going on with the people and I traveled into the bush villages. I got paid in Nigerian beer, which is served at air temperature, about 90 degrees. I'm not a drinker and I hate beer, and I couldn't share it because the villagers had literally scraped together to go to the market. They would sit and watch me drink it. My son loved that - he thought it was just unbelievably hilarious."
A Marriage Collapses
In the mid '80's the family moved back to Colorado, with Thea pregnant with her third child. "I started a day care center in my home and because of my background I worked with the police department, the hospitals, social services." She took in at-risk kids and kids whose parents worked odd hours. Some of them still keep in touch with Thea more than 20 years later.
The marriage was less successful. Without notice, Thea's husband cleaned out the house; likewise the bank accounts, sold the car and moved to Costa Rica, leaving her with the kids and instructions to get divorce papers ready. Thea's survival instincts kicked in again. Rather than falling into depression, she realized that, "It wasn't healthy for anybody. There's nothing I regret - I just accept it without ripping it to shreds. It makes you more open to whatever comes along."
Still, there was a period where the menu consisted largely of ramen noodles and pasta with salad dressing because they couldn't afford spaghetti sauce.
Triumph over Adversity
Thea picked herself up and began an incredibly successful career with Mary Kay cosmetics in 1991. Eighteen months later, she won a car. In fact, one year she won 3 cars. And this was a woman who rarely wore makeup. She married again, but it was the one area that seemed to be a weak link. Her new husband encouraged her to buy a very expensive home and then ended up with a severe drug problem. She sold the house in 2007, used the money to pay off his debts, and was alone again at 54. She had just enough left over to rent a little house with an office upstairs. And there was still Mary Kay, teaching scuba diving, and her three kids, all of whom were doing well.
About six months later, a friend called and asked her to go with her to an interview at Frontier Airlines. The friend never showed up, but Thea went and ended up with a job as a ticket agent. She loved it, and that in turn led to her becoming a flight attendant with a charter airline that specializes in travel for the Defense Department, requiring a high level of security clearance.
In 2008, Thea relocated for the airline to Rockville, MD and met a man whom she felt was a good match for her - someone who was widely traveled, could talk about almost anything, and not the jealous type. Life was smoothing out until she got a call from the airline when she was in Hawaii on a layover. They informed her that she would be furloughed while the airline waited for new planes to be delivered. Furloughed means no pay.
Do What You Have to Do
Back in Maryland, Thea didn't hesitate to go after a $12 an hour retail position, but took a job waiting tables instead, which paid better. She loved it. In her spare time, she became a nanny for two doctors who had a couple of little kids. She still helps the doctors out from time to time.
Then, Do What You Want to Do
Today, Thea is working for the airline again, but she has also developed a makeup line of her own with an app to go with it and has also published several regional cookbooks.
Thea's flexibility and determination have paid off and will continue to do so. "I don't think my life is abnormal at all. I know it comes off as some sort of bizarre collage, but all I see is a series of forks in the road and I've just taken the path that looks prettiest, that was going to lead somewhere mysterious. I've just wandered off the highway a little more."
This is part of a series of articles giving potential career changers motivation and information. Each profiles an individual who has changed careers or is a certified expert in the field and offer advice.
Source:
- Interview with Thea Madden 9/27/11
Nancy LeBrun - Nancy LeBrun is a multiple Emmy award winning writer and producer, working in non-fiction television and new media.
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