B&B was an easy switch for Conn. couple
Each month "Transitions" profiles an individual who has made significant changes in his or her work life and highlights the techniques used to make the changes.
Don Schuman, 62
Career transition: From educator to owner/operator of a bed and breakfast.
What he used to do: Taught English at a public high school in Connecticut.
What he does now: With his wife and business partner, Charlene, he owns and operates a B&B on the coast of Maine. But, the couple are laying the groundwork for their next transition, possibly to careers in retail, as they will close the B&B business in October.
Making the switch: In 1966, just a year out of college, Schuman landed an internship teaching English in Westport, Conn. He worked within that school system for the next 30 years.
Schuman was an active faculty member, "chairing this and that committee," working with the drama department, on curriculum development, and as adviser to the school paper. "I was Mr. Staples High School" Schuman says.
He and Charlene had three children, put them all through college, and did "the usual, remortgaging the house a couple times" to meet their financial obligations.
But the entire time, says Schuman, Charlene was longing to be back home in Maine. She didn't care for the competitive nature of life in Fairfield County, and Schuman could see that she was not in her element.
In the mid-1970s, he explored teaching opportunities in Maine, but the salaries were half that of Westport's and the schools not nearly as progressive.
He couldn't see making the switch from the situation he knew and loved. If he moved to Maine, Schuman thought, he'd have to do something different.
Every time they visited Charlene's sister there, they eyed an 1840s farmhouse with a barn, meadow, orchard, and pond. Once they stopped in and told the owner to let them know if he wanted to sell, though the idea of moving and running a bed and breakfast was still a distant dream.
The first serious rumblings of a possible move came in the early 1990s after Schuman took a yearlong sabbatical teaching at the college level. He found it "tough to reenter" and began to feel that it might be time to leave Westport.
Moreover, during their three decades in Connecticut, the area had changed. There were "more and more big million-dollar homes, many families with the kids gone, or just couples," he said. School budgets were being cut and Schuman's most cherished programs were, too.
He was feeling increasingly disenchanted and said, "Charlie was agitating more than ever to go to Maine."
In the late summer of 1995, they found out the farmhouse was going on the market. They toured the property and loved it.
Unbeknownst to Schuman, his wife had kept a clippings folder on B&Bs for years, and when visiting B&Bs she had always thought, "I can do this better."
Schuman said he told his wife: "Let's go to Maine. You've been waiting for 30 years."
Their offer on the farmhouse was accepted almost immediately. But the initial elation soon turned to mild shock. They had not sold their house in Connecticut, and Schuman was still working at the high school. Then, within a week or so, the Westport school board offered early retirement packages. The next morning Schuman was first in line to get the forms and file. He retired from teaching in June 1996.
Their Connecticut home sold in a week. By October, Charlene moved up to the new house in Maine. Schuman, meanwhile, on a lucky break through a former student, landed a rental apartment for his final year at the high school.
At that point, he recalls he and his wife saying to each other: "We must be doing the right thing — it's just happening."
But despite the long-held dream and the patient research, when it came to running a bed and breakfast, they said they were scared to death. Schuman's older brother, Barry, said, "Don, have you done the math? Have you done any market research?" Schuman had no answers except that the inn "was a mile from Route 1 and on the road to Boothbay Harbor."
They got a loan, readied the property for guests, and built an attached house, where they lived with with Schuman's father, who was in poor health.
Finally, in the spring of 1996, after 18 months of preparation Cod Cove Farm opened for business.
On a typical day, the couple are in the kitchen by 6 a.m., making breakfast. They serve guests, and clean up till 9:30 a.m. After they help folks out the door - directions, maps, sites to see - it's on to "chambermaiding" the rooms till about 1 p.m. There's a slight break before the next wave of guests start arriving around 4.
While open year-round, May-October is the high season. They have never hurt for bookings, Schuman says, and they've always made enough money to support their "semiretired" country lifestyle. But he admits it has never been financially successful. "The gross shows a profit," he says, "but we never really make money."
Still, they've never regretted the move. Much of Charlene's family lives nearby, and two of their own children and all six of their grandchildren now live in Maine.
What's next: Ever the pioneers, the Schumans are about to embark on another transition.
"We're going on 10 years now, and the average length of time in the B&B business is seven," says Schuman. "Life is short. We want to do something else."
When they close their doors in October for good, what will they do? First, they will move into the B&B as their main residence, and Charlene's ailing parents will move into the addition.
And the couple will be out looking for part-time jobs "in the real world again," Schuman says.
Charlene, who ran the financial end of the B&B business, may try to work for L.L. Bean, 40 minutes to the south in Freeport, where she once worked in the call center.
Schuman says he wouldn't mind working on the sales floor at Bean's. "Talk about loving your product," he says. He also wouldn't mind working at a local hotel. "I brought my people skills from teaching," he says, "and I've made good use of them in the B&B."
"It's a little scary," Schuman says, "but we have faith because we made the huge leap before."
Do you have a career transition story you would be willing to share? If so, please let us know at transitions@bostonworks.com. Be sure to include your name, phone number, and e-mail address along with a brief description of your career change. 
