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Life dealt Barbara Parks a triple whammy in 2002. Her marriage fell apart, her mother was dying of cancer, and she was fired from her job at a career counseling agency.

Parks rebounded and started her own business, Green Career Tracks, which provides career counseling for people eager to work in the environmentally conscious “green” market sector. She had been toying around with the idea of leaving the agency to go out on her own for some time, but was afraid to make the entrepreneurial leap.

Getting fired was a shock. “It made me say, now what?” she said.

She talked to Encore.org about how she turned her life around.

Encore.org: How did you deal with being fired?

Parks: It was hard to admit I was fired – and I do admit it now when I give presentations because it’s very important to hear for all the people out there who’ve been fired or laid off. I can demystify it. It helps people open up.

In my case, I decided to change everything. My sisters had migrated to Marin County in California from Minneapolis 30 years ago, and they had been trying to get me out there ever since. In 2004 I downsized everything and put a lot of stuff in storage. And then I put everything I could fit in my car and drove out to California. It was a lot like Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey.

Encore.org: You must have a lot of pluck. Did you make the move easily or have to screw up your courage?

Parks: When I decided to move to California I sat in my driveway for a half an hour ruminating over whether I could safely put my bike on the back end of my car or whether that would be too dangerous because it might be stolen at night. I literally could not take off.

I called my son and he said, “Put the bike on the back end and go!” So I did. I put the bike on and drove away. And I did feel a sense of real courage, because you just don’t do that in your 50s. You do that in your 20s.

Encore.org: What did you hope to do in California?

Parks: My sister is a therapist, and we’d talked for years about teaming up to work together to provide career counseling and life coaching. It didn’t work out. The market was saturated with coaches and counselors.

But everything changed that fall when I was attending the Green Festival in San Francisco. It was like being hit with a blinding flash of the obvious. There were 60,000 zealous people around me talking about conserving natural resources, about peak oil and global warming and solar and wind. And I just felt like that was it. I would gather together all my skills and experience and become a green career coach and support only career tracks in green market sector or industry.

Encore.org: Did you let the idea percolate for a while or bounce the idea off anyone?

Parks: I talked to one person I really respect – a research scientist on environmental issues. She flew out from Minneapolis and we talked about it. She was very supportive because she knew how serious I was.

I knew I’d have a huge learning curve, though I had no idea how huge when I started. In order to have any credibility I was going to have to learn a little bit about every environmental issue to be able to scope out where the jobs were emerging. My learning had to be self-directed, because there is no guideline. This is a new economy, rivaling the Industrial Age and the technological revolution.

Encore.org: What did you discover about emerging “green” industry and the sector as a whole?

Parks: There’s so much going on, most of all in renewable energy – wind and solar especially. Now is a good positioning time for education and networking. The good green jobs should really start rolling out in the next couple of years.

Encore.org: you’re back in Minneapolis now. What happened?

Parks: My grandson. I moved back six months ago because I couldn’t stand being away from him in these early years. He just turned 4. It’s totally happening in the Bay Area now in terms of education and jobs, but this is where I need to be. Even so, I find myself with a thriving practice and more projects that I could imagine. It’s very full. This is my dream job.