Can you imagine living in one of the coolest cities in the world, having a well-respected — and well-paid — job, with some awesome benefits and job stability? I bet you can. But can you then imagine discovering your true life’s passion and having to take $60,000 salary pay cut in order to follow it? I bet that’s a little bit harder.
Yet, this is exactly what Denise Meagher did.
Denise Meagher is a sailing instructor in Manhattan’s Hudson River Community Sailing (HRCS) and a former captain of the Schooner Unicorn — the only all-female crewed tall ship in the world. This is a story of how one smilingly ordinary day changed the course of her life forever.
Chemistry
Denise Meagher grew up Upstate New York, where, as a teen, she enjoyed performing in the local high school’s drama department, drawing and playing organized sports in her spare time. Although sailing was not a part of Denise’s upbringing, she initially got exposed to the activity around the age of twelve.
“Although I didn’t realize it at the time, my father was starting his mid-life crisis. He really wanted a sports car but would never be able to afford one,” Meagher recalls. “He then saw a tiny sailboat in a local department store and bought it on a whim.” As part of the deal, Denise got to sail the boat a handful of times in a nearby lake and, as she puts it, ‘had a lot of fun until the mast snapped in half.’
As the activity did not strike Denise as a potential career option, when picking a college degree, she decided to follow a slightly different logic. “Somebody once told me that, if you are not sure what you want to be doing in life — but want to be able to support yourself — to analyze the job market and choose a career that way.”
Finding out which industries were hiring graduates and taking an introductory course in a given subject — to find out if you like it or not — seemed like a sensible choice. At the time that Meagher was making the decision — in the early-1990s — pharmaceutical industry was the one offering great career prospects.
“I have a very analytical way of doing things, so that’s where science — chemistry in particular — came fairly easy to me.” So, after taking some classes, and seeing her older sister prosper after majoring in chemistry, Denise decided to follow a similar career path.
HMS Rose
One of Meagher’s first professional assignments after college was working as a biochemist in the Rockefeller University on the East Side of Manhattan. “I liked figuring out the puzzles — taking the proteins apart and putting them together,” she recalls. “It was like doing a jigsaw with very expensive machines, but it definitely wasn’t my passion.”
With chemistry not being Denise’s passion, and a desk in her lab overlooking the East River, unsurprisingly, she often observed the world outside of the window. Although tankers were the usual sight, one particular day something very different caught Meagher's attention. As she recalls:
“It was a late summer day in 1998, when I saw a three masted tall ship, 179’, with no sails up, coming down the East River headed toward the Battery, and it really blew my mind.”
Intrigued by the beautiful ship, Denise pulled out her little spy glasses to read the name of the ship: it was HMS Rose — a replica of the 1757 British frigate.
Meagher immediately looked it up on the internet in the lab and found out that its purpose was to do sailing training for adults and students and that it was going to be in the area for the next couple of weeks. “So I called my husband and told him I was signing up for it and asked if he would join me.” He agreed. Two weeks later, the two were on board of the ship, having the time of their lives.
HMS Rose replica. Image via Putastokinit.
Volunteering
After the experience on the HMS Rose, Denise’s fascination with sailing intensified. She quickly became a volunteer at the South Street Seaport Museum in downtown Manhattan, where she continued to learn about sailing, boat maintenance, and everything in between.
“I was still working at the lab, but every chance that I got I would be at the museum. I wanted to learn as much as I could,” she says. At the time, Denise was seriously considering a career change, but as she puts it, ‘also wanted to make sure this wasn’t a hobby that she would get bored with in a year or so, which would leave her without a job.’
Knowing the financial implications of such change — and the lack of affordable healthcare in those years — Meagher decided to spend three years of her life preparing to follow her dream. Apart from persistent volunteering and education, Denise was also eager to save money before making the switch.
“I took $60,000 hit to my paycheck with the first paid sailing job I got. I really had to love it to take such drastic step.”
Instant Gratification
So what was so special about sailing that attracted Meagher to it? It wasn’t that it paid well. It didn’t. Or that it made her escape the enclosed office. She was never an outdoorsy person to begin with. It was the instant gratification and the sense of freedom and belonging it gave her.
“Something I really enjoy about sailing is that it allows you to see the results of your actions right away,” says Denise. “When I worked in the lab, on the other hand, I would have to wait months or even years to look at the results of my labor.”
Additionally, observing the world from eighty feet up in the air — after climbing up the rig — and harnessing wind and tide is what Meagher finds fascinating about sailing.
“Sailboats, especially the traditional ones, represent thousands of years of history. They are a work of art and a symbol of discovery,” she says. “They really make you feel like you are a part of something greater and that you are keeping the tradition going.”
Have a Plan
Although Denise’s journey to finding her passion was rather accidental — she wasn’t really looking for it, yet it found her — it provides some incredibly valuable lessons to those searching for their purpose.
“The whole thing is still very strange to me, because I’m not very outdoorsy: I’m an indoor cat!” she says. “I still struggle to understand how it all happened — it really doesn’t make sense to me at all.” Because of her own experience, Denise advocates engaging in new activities outside of your regular interests in order to find your passion. As she says:
“Try something unusual that you would have never thought you would be interested in. Take a class, book an experience, take up an activity. The reason it helps is because it takes you out of your comfort zone and allows you discover something new about yourself.”
Meagher also stresses the importance of finding a passion which allows you to move to different cities — or countries — and doesn’t tie you down to one place and the need to having a plan.
“Following your passion is not always going to make you a lot of money — at least not in the beginning — so having a plan can be crucial,” she says.
Lack of preparation can ultimately lead you to where you started, which often means settling for a job you desperately wanted to leave behind.
Denise’s story illustrates how one’s income is not always the best indicator of one’s happiness. Having a fulfilling career can offer so much more reward to a person that money ever will. But, what’s even more fascinating about Meagher’s journey is how falling in love with sailing brought out the extrovert in her.
As the activity forced Denise to interact with people on boats and share her knowledge, it provided an insight into the side to her personality she never knew. Therefore, it can be concluded that, apart from offering great fulfillment, following your passion can offer personal growth beyond your expectations.
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