9 replies to this topic

[GMO]

Honestly it's a topic which has been running around my mind for years.  But decisions I made in my 20s led me in a food safety direction and I can't think of anything else I'd do nowadays.

 

But do you ever think... what if?  

[mgourley]

No.

I basically fell into this profession.

Got out of the US Navy when I was 28 and got a job at a bakery that makes product for McDonald's.

 

Started in the sanitation department as a weekend worker and ended up being the Sanitation Manager 12 years later.

16 years and three companies later I transitioned into the Food Safety Manager role.

 

After 34 years, I can't really imagine what else I would have done.

 

Marshall

[Killian]

I think it's totally natural to wonder about the roads you didn't take, and I know I have plenty of times especially with regard to majoring in x instead of y, or pursuing different programs. But ultimately I do feel fulfilled by my work most days and it pays enough to lead a modest life and focus on the things I care about.

 

The days when I think too much about what could have gone better I try to force myself to think about the ways it could have gone worse, which may not be the best mindset but I find that it reassures me. Ultimately the past is the past and I still have a lot of control over elements of the future.

[SQFconsultant]

Yes.

 

I have spent the last 20 years between auditing and consulting and while it has been an interesting ride I always waned to get back into serving people great food - thus we are now in the planning stage (while still doing consulting work) to start a food company and in turn a multi unit Organic Food store each wtih a Scaler Light Energy system for self-healing, a natural/organic living education center along with a compact gym, massage center and a portable/mobile farm center that will supply the stores and two food outlets - right now doing the registrations, land selection, got the builder ready and awaiting sketches for building design.

 

In December I say bye bye to consulting - exciting times.

 

The self-healing centers are humanitarian projects for the company - they are NOT being set up to turn a profit, that section is supported by the stores - thus instead of charging $50 to $100 per hour for the service we will have a small membership fee and the session times are free.

 

Never thought I could do something like this, but we made a very long shot investment and it is paying off.

Edited by SQFconsultant, 16 June 2025 - 10:20 PM.

[AZuzack]

Honestly it's a topic which has been running around my mind for years.  But decisions I made in my 20s led me in a food safety direction and I can't think of anything else I'd do nowadays.

 

But do you ever think... what if?  

I too made lots of decisions in my 20's.  I actually did something different (grad school, Teaching-Private, Public, College, IT, Chemistry), ended up in QA and still wish I had picked a different path somewhere...

 

Working in Quality Assurance is hard.  You have to buy into that you're so important to keeping people safe but you're constantly at odds with production and the bottom line.  You're expected to be as ethical as a Saint but it often feels like all of the compromising is left up to QA.  God Forbid you draw the wrong hard line or your only next move will be the door.  I've worked with some really wonderful amazing people but mostly not good people.  People that are insecure, bullies, ignorant, egotistical, sexist, lazy, self-preserving, angry, greedy, gossips.  Somehow QA is expected to influence all these dysfunctional people at all the levels of the organization to follow the regulatory and GFSI rules.  

[TimG]

Still strongly considering it, tbh. Mid 40s isn't too late for a complete paradigm shift... Is it?

[MDaleDDF]

I had like three careers before this one, and figured out they all suck one way or another, lol.   So no, not really....

[jfrey123]

I worked retail in high school, then got into warehousing from age 18-20.  That led me into mixed retail/warehousing at a paint store, where I advanced to outside sales.  Sales was cool for about 6 years, but the last sales gig was insurance sales and it drove me absolutely sick with sales in general.  I tried to go back into warehousing/manufacturing for a solid 8am-5pm and was placed at a spice facility, where they wanted a 'computer guy' to edit their files for their first SQF audit.  That led to me leading their one man QA department and the rest is history.

 

I really like food safety/QA.  There's steady reliability with enough mystery sprinkled in to keep it interesting.  Always some detective work to be done to figure out how to keep things running smoothly or even better than before.  I'm plenty happy with the roles I work, have to say sometimes the managers or owners I work for are the primary cause of frustrations.  If I could do anything different, I'd have gone to college on time instead of a late bloomer after my stint in sales.  My wife was in college as we dated, got into tech, it led to a 10+ year career where she makes more in stock options than I've made at my best past jobs.  I should've done what she did lol.

[qa_maddy]

I've always been in the food industry. I started cooking, did some light back end R&D stuff but got generally grossed out by the sales side of it, and then I sort of fell into QA. Food Safety as a concept came easily to me, and the job gives me just enough challenge to keep it interesting. I like getting to stay in the food industry and work a pretty "regular" schedule as well, and I also get to feel like I'm doing something at least a little beneficial to the people around me. 

[kfromNE]

I've worked in healthcare and community health before working in food manufacturing. Even a part time job in sales (hated it). Food safety was a part of those jobs but not the main part of it. I kind of fell into the food manufacturing industry. Do I see myself staying as a QC Manager at a food manufacturing plant until I retire in many, many years - no, I do not. 

 

I do think any future job will encompass food safety, compliance, etc. Maybe just not the main star like it is now. I can say I don't wish I'd chosen another career path.

The thing I joke to myself about- why did I have to choose a career path that required so many audits, including my time in healthcare.