Encore: Work that matters in the second half of life.

Kathleen Davies’ path to her encore career was bumpy, twisted and rural.

In 2001, the sinking economy dealt her 23-year-old public relations firm a lethal blow. “At age 53, I hoped to reinvent myself by helping preserve wildlife and nature — though I wasn’t quite sure how,” Davies writes in “Pursuing a Passion for Nature After a Life in Business” in the March 20 issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Davies, who lived in Minnesota, changed her identity numerous times in her quest to find work that fulfilled her, from student to volunteer, then to teacher and paid consultant. She studied ornithology, then took an adult study trip to Namibia to study birds and the environment. She writes that she grew from a timid leader into a skilled handler of birds of prey at the Raptor Center affiliated with the University of Minnesota. Determined to learn new skills, she became a master gardener, then a state tree-care adviser and master naturalist.

To finance her career transition, she sold her big house, bought a small fixer-upper, did consulting and cut out perks such as dining out and getting manicures.

Davies now does work that she loves, teaching nature study classes to schoolchildren. And she is working with friends and the Wildlife Center in Espanola, N.M., to fulfill a dream: establishing a nature center near her second home in the wilds of the Manzano Mountains in New Mexico.

“I am living in harmony with my values—something I tried to do as a business person, but not always successfully,” she writes.

Davies says friends often ask her advice about making similar career transitions. Here’s what she says she tells them:

• If you can, start to save and invest money that can be used as a base income while you pursue your dream.
• Look for causes that match your values and passions.
• Research the organizations you are considering. One of the most effective ways to do that is to talk to other volunteers or students.
• Build on your volunteer experience to learn new skills and create work that will be the most satisfying to you.
• In the end, follow your gut.