
Retirement usually signifies the end of career exploration, but for 73-year-old Toronto-based Helen Fisher, it opened the door to put her skills as a couturier to use. Ms. Fisher had a thriving freelance project-management practice in advertising and photography until 2017. Nearing retirement age, she found herself without a contract lined up. Her nephew, who taught glassblowing at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre, suggested she try her hand at teaching sewing.
“I didn’t know I had a skill I could teach,” says Ms. Fisher. “Even though I was [trained as] a couturier and a pattern drafter, I hadn’t really used those skills during my career; I hadn’t really sewn all that much professionally. But I went on the interview, got the job, and then had a week to put all these courses together.”

