In 1983, Shunji Asari stood in front of the U.S. Supreme Court arguing an appeals case from California.

Today, he arranges flowers at Donatello Flowers and Gifts.

Five years ago, Lennie Williams was operating computers for the Navy.

Now, he holds people’s hands as they deal with the death of a loved one as a funeral director at Evans Funeral Chapel & Crematory.

The Anacortes residents are two of the many people here who’ve made a major career change. Whether it’s for the desire to help others or an opportunity that can’t be passed by, letting one career go and picking up another is a transition most of us make at one point in our lives.

The average working American will have three to five careers and 10 to 12 jobs in his or her lifetime, according to Careers In Transition, a career counseling firm that specializes in professional and tailored career development advising and guidance.

And Anacortes is a great place to make that change.

“It has vitality because it’s drawn people young and old who have come here from all walks of life,” Asari said. “It’s a great place to try something different.”

Shunji Asari
Lawyer to Donatello Flowers and Gifts florist

Practicing law and arranging flowers aren’t exactly different, Asari says.

Lawyers are analytical by nature and that training helps them analyze, whether it’s a legal brief or a vase of flowers.

But, Asari says, it’s what he gets from the experiences that really connects his careers.

“What you find in them is the same,” he said.

After working 18 years as a prosecutor for the Office of the Attorney General in California, Asari moved to Anacortes. He tried practicing law here for a bit but then opted to go a different route.

“Moving here was a big transition, but not a difficult one, and I think I was ready for other changes,” he said.

He had dabbled in flower arranging earlier and decided to give it a go.

More than 10 years later, Asari still enjoys his new career.

“I can’t imagine not doing it,” he said.

In the late 1970s, Asari started working in the criminal law division in California’s attorney general’s office.

“We handled all the appeals for felony convictions,” he said.

Cases rarely went to the U.S. Supreme Court. But, in 1983, Asari was part of a team arguing an appeals case in front of the highest court in the nation.

In the case, a minor asked to see his probation officer after he was arrested.

The question was whether the youth had been invoking his right to remain silent.

“Our position was it was ambiguous. He wasn’t saying he didn’t want to talk,” Asari said.

The California Supreme Court ruled that is exactly what he was saying. But the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Asari’s team.

He said the experience was unique. In most courtrooms, the judge is higher than everyone else.

“In the Supreme Court they’re right at your level,” he said. “You really feel they want to know what your views are so they can reach a decision.”

During his 18 years in Los Angeles, he also did some trial work and work with federal courts.

Asari moved to Anacortes in 1991 and worked as an attorney here until 1993. He took on California appellate cases, this time for the defense, and would fly down for oral arguments.

But he missed working in an office and found it difficult without colleagues.

“Without that it was harder to keep up on the law,” he said.

Flowers weren’t foreign to Asari.

“I’d always been around flowers. My parents had a plant nursery,” he said.

His mother studied ikebana, which is Japanese flower arranging.

Even as an attorney he would buy flowers from a man selling them on the street, arrange them and give them to people.

In the beginning, he’d bring in flower arrangements to sell at Sylvia’s Garden, a shop located downtown where Curves is now.

“I knew nothing about what I was doing,” Asari said. “I’d do the flowers at home, a lot of things I grew, and I took them to the shop.”

Financially it was a big transition but he said being in a smaller town made it easier.

“It might be a different thing to do in a big city,” he said.

In 1997, Jean Fantini opened Donatello Flowers and Gifts. She previously managed Sylvia’s Garden, and Asari joined her at the new store.

There are rules in flower arranging to know why you’re doing something.

“I think those are made to be broken. But you need to know the rules,” Asari said. “The professional can recreate what he’s done because you know why you did it.”

He took classes sponsored by suppliers to learn general flower arranging but also drew on ikebana, which literally translates to “flowers kept alive.”

Western arranging creates a look and Japanese arranging is more about the life of the flower.

“Often flowers are facing up just as most flowers face up to the sun,” he said. “You do it in a way that it looks like it’s alive. It has life energy.”

Kristi Gabrielse
Tesoro city relations to owner of Ana-Cross Stitch

The jump from the corporate world to being a business owner wasn’t much of a leap for Gabrielse.

“That was as easy as falling off a log,” she said.

After working in human resources for James Hardie Building Products in Tacoma and putting in two years in city relations at Tesoro, Gabrielse is now her own boss. Though it was easy, the transition didn’t come without some concerns.

“It was a very sedentary lifestyle (at Tesoro) but there were regular days off. It was the corporate world. You have a regular paycheck and benefits,” she said. “There’s a scary aspect to (owning a business) because you’re not guaranteed anything.”

But Gabrielse wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It feels like what I was meant to do.”

Gabrielse bought Ana-Cross Stitch just more than a year ago.

It’s been a year of learning, but she says her extensive research before buying the business along with mentoring from former owner Lois Slotemaker made the transition easier.

“It was so easy because I love it. It’s hard even on my days off to be away because it’s where I want to be,” Gabrielse said.

Before buying the business she met with financial planners, a lawyer and an accountant.

“I met them to find what break-even was and plan what the cash flow opportunities and drawbacks were,” she said. “I researched a lot before I bought it.”

It’s important to do that research so you know what you’re getting into, she said.

“You don’t want to take on something you’re not prepared for,” Gabrielse said. “If there’s no profit there’s no paycheck.”

Many of the skills she used at Tesoro have come in handy at Ana-Cross Stitch. It helps that she has a background in the creative side of the business, too. She started working in needlepoint and cross stitch when she was about 7. Knitting came in later.

Gabrielse said one major difference is having to be the driving force, the instigator, at the shop.

“At a corporation things will go on without you,” she said. “There’s a lot of romance written about yarn shops. They’re really sweet but they’re not real. You don’t just decide one day you’re going to have a class this Thursday.”

There’s also more urgency in her life.

“Now every moment is spoken for,” she said. “I don’t go home for a week at Christmas, I go home for three days.”

The decisions combine the business side with the creative — inventory, cost controlling, planning and buying.

“When I started it was emotional, things that I loved,” she said. “If I bought 1 percent of the things I love I’d need a bigger shop.”

She gets input from other employees but also trusts her instincts.

“If you don’t love it it’s really hard to sell it,” she said.

Because she planned well, Gabrielse said the business is stable. Locals continue to come in for their shopping needs and the national and international following is steady. Mail order makes up as much as 20 percent of the business.

Gabrielse didn’t plan to buy a business when she moved to Anacortes. But she’s glad she did.

“I don’t think I would have made the change but it was too good to pass up,” she said. “It was like walking into what you wished it had been.”

Rick Star
Manufacturing engineer in aerospace industry to Rockfish Grill general manager

The smell of beer fermentation reminds Star of visits to Germany to see his uncle, a brew master.

“From the time I was little we would visit. He’d take me to work and put the heavy coat on me to check the temperature and write it down on a clipboard,” he said.

Star started home brewing in the late 1980s. At the time, making a second career out of it wasn’t at the front of his thoughts.

But, then again, he never thought he’d make a career in the aerospace industry, either.

“I said I’ll do this until something better comes along. And I spent 25 years in aerospace,” he said.

Star started in aerospace as a summer hire in college and ended his career in the industry at Boeing just a few years ago.

“I needed to make some money working through college,” he said.

His job was more clerical, working on updates to standards manuals at a California company. After graduating in 1981 from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in marketing, he took a full-time job with the company.

“It had absolutely nothing to do with what I went to school for,” he said.

He moved to Washington in 1991 to work for Boeing.

Star eventually met Allen Rhodes and the dream of creating a restaurant and brewery began.

An engineering strike at Boeing had Star out of work for 40 days, which gave him and three partners time to plan the restaurant.

“It was coincidental I think. Having the time off allowed us to put together the pieces,” he said. “The four of us launched the Rockfish in 2000.”

While still at Boeing, Star took on jobs with the Rockfish that could be done away from the business.

“My job was everything that could be done outside four walls,” he said.

He worked on the marketing, entertainment booking, Web content and label design.

In December 2006, he left Boeing to work at the Rockfish full-time as the general manager. For the first time, Star was in charge of 40 employees and customer service.

He said he was good at what he did in aerospace and had great success. He worked on projects for F-22s and Apache helicopters. 

“Boeing was a great experience. It was probably the best company I worked for,” he said.

It was a big transition to go from Boeing to the Rockfish — and Seattle to Anacortes.

“I quit my career, relocated to a new community and started a new career all in one week,” Star said. “It was a radical change.”

But it was a good change.

“I really like what I’m doing right now. It’s rewarding. It’s challenging but it’s very rewarding,” he said. “Ultimately I think I’m happier.”

Though some of the perks are gone, Star said he hasn’t regretted a minute.

“I make a lot less money. I work a lot more hours,” he said. “My quality of life has improved.”

The security of aerospace was good at the time, but Star said he’s glad he took the leap to the Rockfish.

“There seemed to be a natural evolution. When the window of opportunity presented itself I did the most important thing. I jumped through it.”

Lennie Williams
Career Navy to Evans Funeral Chapel & Crematory funeral director and embalmer

When Williams hit his 16-year mark in the Navy, he figured it was time to start thinking about his future.

“I was just thinking about what am I going to do when I retire,” he said.

After playing with the idea of teaching math or going into accounting or finance, he found another path.

Joe Waham, whose son went to preschool with Williams’ son, suggested he look into the funeral industry.

At first, Williams wasn’t so sure.

“I said ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’”

But Waham, Evans manager/funeral director and embalmer, told Williams his good people skills would be an asset in the industry.

“He piqued my curiosity,” Williams said.

And after retiring in 2003 with 22 years of service, Williams is now in his fifth year of working for Evans.

A lot of research, thought and prayer went into Williams’ decision. He’s glad he took the time to find the right next step and says he’s found a career where he can stick around.

“I wanted something where I could impact people,” he said. “I can see myself staying here.”

In the Navy, Williams operated on-board computers to listen for submarines. He was stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island the last half of his service.

When retirement started looming, he wanted to stay in the area. His wife is from California and his family settled in Idaho.

“This was a nice in between the two,” he said.

Both his dad and brother were also career military.

“It runs in the blood,” Williams said.

But their careers transferred better to the civilian world than his.

“It’s like a tank driver. You don’t see a lot of tanks driving down the street,” he said.

After the suggestion from Waham, Williams decided to find out what was really involved in the funeral industry. Waham took him on a few first calls, where they go to a home or institution to receive a body.

“The more I saw the more I said ‘Hey, I could do this,’” he said. “They let me help in services to give me a nice, broad view of everything we do.”

“This is definitely something you have to see and do before you make a decision.”

Williams also did plenty of research online.

“What really helped me the most is I took the time, I took about four months, to research what it would take to get me where I am today,” he said.

Three years before he was scheduled to retire Williams started taking classes at Skagit Community College. After he retired he spent a year at school in Oregon before graduating with an associate of applied science degree in funeral service. It qualifies him to be a funeral director and embalmer.

There were challenging times along the way, like when he had to spend time away from family, friends and fun to get his degree.

“I am so glad that I decided to do this instead of teaching or accounting. It was two years instead of four,” he said.

He also had to shake some of his military training.

“I had to stop saying sir and ma’am,” he said.

But he also brought some things he learned in the Navy to his new position, like his good work ethic, leadership abilities and computer skills.

Parts of the job aren’t all that different. Sometimes the hours are long and he can be called out in the middle of the night. That means missing some basketball games or cross country meets.

“If I’d been in the Navy and had to fly that day I’d have missed it anyway,” he said.

Overall, Williams said he transitioned easily from the military to the funeral business.

“Everything worked out just wonderfully. God provided for us,” he said.

And he likes what he does.

“I like the fact that they’re asking a stranger to walk into their house and take over the care of someone they dearly love,” Williams said. “We don’t look at it as a job, it’s a ministry.”

Career changing advice

Local people who have made career changes share some advice if entering a new career is in your future.

• Plan in a day off if you’re buying a business
• Take advice from anybody who gives it
• Keep a list of what you want to accomplish
• See if you can job shadow someone in the field
• Research everything
• Be open to thinking outside the box
• Don’t assume your expectations are requirements
• Don’t be afraid to follow your dreams