David Bilyeu: Toy Designer Makes a Career Change to Somatics

[img_assist|nid=1752|title=David Bilyeu, Retired Toy Designer and Clinical Somatic Educator|desc=|link=popup|align=right|width=300|height=400]

We know that in these tough economic times, it feels harder than ever to make a big change in your life or take financial risk. We also know how happy and satisfied our students have been when they’ve made the decision to enroll in our Somatics Professional Training program. For some, it’s the most important decision they’ve ever made.

As our next training program approaches, we asked some practitioners — graduates of our Professional Training Program — how they felt about their investment of time and money to attend Somatic Systems Institute, and what kind of results they got from doing so.

David Bilyeu (Somatic Systems Institute Class of 2008) was facing the end of his decades-long first career when he joined our training program. He graduated from our Somatics Professional Training Program last September, right in the middle of the national and international economic recession. David gave us his answer here.

May 2009

I would like to add to my past endorsement of Somatic Systems Institute’s Somatic Professional Training Program. I was very pleased to find upon completion of the training that when I made the decision to change careers (from years of designing Toys for a major toy manufacturer and teaching Martial Arts) that it was a smooth transition. I took the path of making the decision to change careers on the day I graduated from the Training Program.

I started moving forward first by building my client list, keeping in mind that I'm offering a service to the public as well as hoping to have a successful business. This all evolved organically, and smoothly over the next 6 months. I first relied on networking with a minimum startup investment. I happily received unsolicited referrals from my fellow graduates; business contacts, friends, and with Somatic Systems Institute and the larger Somatics community of past graduates.

This happened somewhat to my surprise — without any significant additional expenses for marketing and advertising fees. This is a substantial benefit, especially when you consider the significant costs of other startup businesses or career moves. I really thought I would have faced a fairly large investment of time and funds.

I never would have thought that I could transition as quickly and successfully as I have. This is always a consideration with the economic challenges we face today.

I can say with confidence that anyone who attends Somatic Systems Institute can transfer their own set of business skills from their present careers — by adding what they will learn from the business training and marketing classes from Somatic Systems Institute’s training program. This allows for transitioning into successful revenue returns smoothly and quickly, even in today's economic environment. Looking forward, it appears to me that Somatics and self-help fields are growing industries. It seems that Somatics will be an even more secure field in the future — because it has endless growth opportunities. Somatics is a self-help initiative first, and interest in this approach expands when the economy weakens. To me this would make Somatic training the most appealing of investments of one’s time and finances, in these challenging times.

Finally, I would like to say I took a more conservative approach than other people might, choosing to grow my Somatics career after I graduated from my Training Program. I also know students-in-training who have started their Somatics career paths earlier, applying their skills after the first semester of the training! I'm always impressed with this level of enthusiasm and professional initiative, but I am even more impressed with the positive way Somatic Systems Institute freely encourages and supports this. This is unheard of in any other professional training programs I've experienced.

Wishing all the best in your training.

David Bilyeu
Clinical Somatics practitioner
Somatic Systems Institute Class of 2008 Graduate