My partner and I really want to get out of the grind.
We both work part-time retail. Me, at a local art supply store, with a fantastic boss, lots of flexibility, great schedule, and no complaints on my end. I just know I can't be there forever and need more money eventually. I also volunteer at galleries/museums/community resource things/etc. I had a grant writing internship at a nonprofit that was paying well, but was let go due to funding issues which was quite discouraging as well.
My partner though works legal cannabis. Has 10+ years growing experience but the industry has gone to such trash. Constantly underpaid and never valued for knowledge, always just general labor in some shitty commercial grow-op. He's now working retail (which he is way overqualified for, but thought may be better than growing) and they keep cutting his (shite) hours and the customer base here is… not the best. Poor communication from management, schedule kinda sucks. He's over it, really, and also feeling super discouraged that he's invested so much into this and practically moved backwards in the industry.
Eventually we want a little property and a modest house. We wanna grow food and create and barter and do more community focused stuff. But that's not gonna happen with our current situation.
I'm college educated, and passionate about community, spirituality, nonprofit work, art, education, history, preservation, and have skills like writing, networking, development, and stuff along those lines. Due to mental health and long term TBI symptoms I unfortunately don't have the ability to work full-time somewhere, but can do (and do do!) many things.
My fiance feels a bit lost at the moment… but loves plants, plant medicine, cannabis, and is great at working with his hands, building, problem-solving, and anything related to that. He is equipped to work full-time.
We are great as a team, which would be ideal. We are sick of the bullshit. We both want to advocate more for reform in the cannabis industry and legal drug industries in general, advocate for things like r/antiwork, have entrepreneurial spirits, and do more community things in general. We have dreams of starting our own nonprofit and/or business, but that's not realistic until we get more stability.
Does anyone have ideas for some next steps we can take? I sell art and writing here and there but it's not truly sustainable. It's just wild how impossible it feels to make a decent living. We don't live extravagantly, nor do we want to. We just want a simple, good life. We both have good work ethic and experience. Any advice, whether practical advice or even just general philosophical advice would be greatly appreciated.
TL:DR: Partner and I are sick of the grind and being undervalued in our respective industries. Feeling stuck and weighed down and need advice on a more cohesive antiwork lifestyle.
TIA