I've only ever worked for myself because I have low vocal fluency, where do I go at 35 with no career?
I have difficulty speaking so I've never really had a job I haven't created myself. My spoken fluency is very low, a lot of stuttering/cluttering, trailing off, even shutting down. Every public speaking engagement I've ever had has brought me close to a heart-attack (hyperbole). I just can't keep cool and manage the stress of speaking. It's not all the time, but it's most of the time. It manifests the most in presentations, phone calls, webcam chat. In person it is much better.
I've been doing online marketing and sales from a very young age (pre-teen), I've been at it for over 20 years. Copywriting ads, customer service/support, product photography, organizing meetups or shipping, packing, dealing with couriers. I'm not employed by anyone, it's just something I've done as a side-job. I have around 6,000 feedback across a dozen or so forums and P2P classifieds sites.
I started a home business selling products. The product doesn't really matter, 95% of the work was advertising, logistics, and customer service. The business wasn't incredibly lucrative depending on how you look at it: I probably made on average 30-40k/yr but I only ever worked 2-4 hours a week landing it around $200-250/hr. I had an exit when the business was acquired and I left that position having accrued 5,000 or so clients.
Concurrent to my business, I took two degrees: a BA in writing and a BSc in compsci. I wanted to improve my written ability (and I would say it's very high despite my spoken ability being rock bottom) and I built the business tools from scratch so the BSc gave me a formal education in best methods and practices to that end.
When I sold my business, I took a few years to focus on starting a family and personal pursuits. I picked up a technical writing hobby, I write CS-related educational material online for free. It's time I start working again but I'm lost. I don't know how to reconcile these factors together:
Cons
- zero employment history unless you count the business
- very low verbal ability
- getting on in age
Pros
- very high ability in advertising copywriting
- very high ability in customer service (online)
- high technical ability
- proven business spirit from inception to acquisition
- 20+yrs experience digital marketing and sales
- two degrees
I'm working with an employment coach and they keep pushing starting jobs like retail, fast-food, call centers, or other customer-facing positions when this is my absolute weakest point. I've swallowed some pride and have applied to many of these jobs but it never even gets that far since I bomb every interview.
They have also advised against putting "founder of a business" on my resume because it signals a flight risk and my P2P classifieds experience because there's no paper trail for references and it would be easy to fake because of its impermanence.
Any guidance or direction you guys can give me? At this point I'd rather work for an entity rather than doing something myself again. My business was a lightning-strikes-once scenario I don't think I could repeat, nor do I really want to start a new business unless it were service-based rather than product sales.