Man who was millionaire at 36 gave up CEO role to pursue unusual dream | Personal Finance | Finance
A man who had a lucrative career working as a CEO for a billion-dollar company gave up his career to pursue a passion – and has never looked back.
George Appling, from Texas, said he would visit the Houston Renaissance Fair every year when he was younger and realised, much later in life, it was his dream to start his own.
He told Express.co.uk that he gave up his high-income career as a business consultant for a cellphone distribution company, several executive roles at major global companies, including president of a business unit at Siemens, to co-found the fair.
The Sherwood Forest Faire in Austin, Texas, first opened in February 2010. With 150 shows a day, including jousting, falconry, juggling and underwater escape, along with artisan crafts from Medieval England, the event has become quite an attraction.
George, 55, who has two master’s degrees from Harvard, had $1 million in the bank by age 36, said it was always part of his plan to down tools from the corporate world at the age of 40.
But now, his shows based on the English Renaissance, drum up quite the audience. Americans have a “fascination with British history”, he said, and thousands flock to see his shows every weekend.
He explained: “My show is set in 1190’s. There’s always been a fascination with this kind of medieval aesthetic like Game of Thrones and the vikings.
“There’s definitely a charm Americans love about that aesthetic.”
The fair focuses on English history including the British monarchy, which he says is fascinating to Americans “because they’re not ours, we have the freedom to romanticise them.”
He added: “They fill a fantasy in our minds.. honour, chivalry and loyalty and that kind of thing. When you get to royal weddings, there’s tens of millions of Americans watching them.”
George explained that after he gave up his CEO position at a billion-dollar company, his dad visited his fair and said: “George, the next step in your career was to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and the average compensation there is $21 million per year. Why are you not doing that?’.
“I replied, ‘Dad, I’m bringing a day of joy to 100,000 a year and that’s a good use of my time.'”
He explained that when he was 36-years-old, he put a note in his phone for his 40th birthday that just said ‘STOP’. George explained: “It meant to stop doing what the economy wanted me to do, and start doing what I wanted to do.
“I didn’t know what that was at the time, but I gave myself time to figure that out.”
He added: “I think it’s always been true that there’s been this tension between what I really want to do and what the economy wants me to do. I just think that thinking about that intentionally and having the ability to choose what you want to do is heightened now because we have a gig economy and surplus of information. More people are able to do what I’ve done.
“Being a CEO was definitely stressful but I loved it. I loved the energy and the thrill of running a big company – and I got to see the world. But I was always aware of what these stressful jobs were doing for me. I was saving money so I could eventually follow my passions with a security net.
“I very much intended to spend 15-20 years in ‘the real world’ and then switch over and do what I love. That was my plan the whole time.”
George also released his own book, entitled Don’t Settle: A Pick-Your-Path Guide to Intentional Work, earlier this year.
