What follows is my first dump of the information I plan to use in my Toastmasters speech.

1984 – the year I received my Ph.D. in Japanese history – is a year I remember better than the year that I got married to my wonderful husband. In fact, if someone asks me, “What year did you get married?” I think, “I got my Ph.D. in 1984. 1984 plus two years equals 1986.”

Yes, the year 1984 sticks in my mind more than 1986 because I finally earned my Ph.D. in Japanese Japan had been the focus of my study for years.

Japan was a big part of my life.

So, how is it, when I fast forward to 2006, that my work and personal life have nothing to do with Japan? I have evolved from Japanese historian to a freelance financial writer concentrating on investment management and financial planning topics. Is the answer obvious? Can I see a show of hands from those who think they know the answer?

No hands?

Tonight I’m going to tell you how I made the move from historian to financial writer.

Let’s start in the first class I teach as a teaching assistant. I feel overwhelmed by the eyes of 20 undergrads on me. And I struggle to lead a discussion of how the Japanese book of the week illuminates the history of its period. I’m no good as a teaching assistant.

You might think that’s me being modest. Unfortunately, it’s true. The evaluations that I get at the end of four semesters confirm it.

This is bad news. I’d been counting on enjoying teaching. Teaching had to be better than research, I thought. Because I didn’t enjoy researching my Ph.D. thesis. I always felt a bit overwhelmed by my project’s scope. And I hated the requirement to say something new, something different from the scholars before me.

If teaching wasn’t going to redeem the life of a scholar, then I had to find something else to do. I had to escape the Ivory Tower.

But how to escape? The only life I knew was academic. I’d never had a job, other than clerical work or tutoring Japanese students in English.

So I turned to the university’s placement office, going to every lecture on “nonacademic jobs for Ph.D.s.” Eventually, once I’d completed my Ph.D. thesis, I started job hunting.

The only way to get anyone to look at me was to leverage my Japan background. So I ended up working for a small consulting firm as “Manager of the Japan Desk.” That sounds like a very responsible job, doesn’t it? But I was actually a glorified translator, reading and writing about Japanese R&D – research & development – in newspapers and patents. It was a useful place to work for awhile. I managed to work the smell of academia off my resume.

But before long, I was preparing for my escape.

Back at the university, I’d learned about the CFA credential. CFA stands for Chartered Financial Analyst. It’s a credential that many portfolio managers and research analysts have. It’s a credential for professionals in the investment management business. At Harvard I heard former historians speak about how their Ph.D. skills transferred well to their new occupations in the investment management business. That sounded good to me.

So I started taking classes toward earning my CFA. It was going to take a long time. I’d have to pass three years of exams. I couldn’t even start the exams right away. I had to start with prep work. Classes like basic accounting. It was a long haul.

But the fact that I was working toward my CFA – along with my Japanese language skills – was enough to win me a job at a money management firm that had Japanese clients. They reckoned that I was going to help them cash in on the Japanese gold mine. At one of my very first client meetings, a Japanese man said “Suuzan-san is very good secret weapon.”

Even so, the Japanese business alone wasn’t enough to occupy me full-time. So the firm’s owner gave me communications responsibilities, too. I became manager of business communications, in addition to manager of Japanese business.

That was my pivotal job. The place where I shifted my focus from Japan to writing. Because I enjoyed and thrived as a writer to a degree that I never achieved as a Japan expert.

Each of my jobs since then has moved me along.

After I got laid off from the investment management firm, I continued to leverage my Japanese language skills as a Japanese business consultant. But I also began freelance writing. So during that period, the percentage of my time devoted to writing increased.

Next I got a job as a staff reporter for a weekly mutual fund publication. That was my first job completely divorced from Japan. The pressure of weekly deadlines turned me into a speedy and clean writer.

From the newsletter I went back inside an investment management company. But again my job had nothing to do with Japan. I was completely focused on marketing communications related to investments.

And now I’m a freelance financial writer.

I’ve come a long way since earning my Ph.D. in 1984. But I’m still using my intellectual curiosity. Plus, I’m enjoying a profession that’s much better suited to my personality. And, it’s my business as a freelancer that brings me to Toastmasters because I’m finding that I need to do public speaking to promote myself. I look forward to learning from you – tonight and in the future.