Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

Retirement doesn’t appeal to a notary in Texas who’s still enjoying work

“This particular job, one of the reasons I took it is because I knew that you’d never stop learning, and I find that really exciting,” said Violet O’Brien, a notary in Houston.

Download
Texas notary Violet O'Brien (right) at a meeting with a client.
Texas notary Violet O'Brien (right) at a meeting with a client.
Courtesy Violet O'Brien

This week, ADP’s monthly employment survey comes out, along with the labor department’s job numbers and the Fed’s announcement on interest rates. But despite all that data, numbers can only tell us so much about what it’s like to work in this economy.

So we decided to check back in with Violet O’Brien, a notary out in Houston, Texas. The last time we heard from her was in February 2020, and now that she’s no longer self-employed, things are a bit different for her.

“At first, I thought I was crazy. Like, why are you changing careers at this age? You should be retiring. But I don’t have any intentions of doing that. So I’m enjoying it,” said O’Brien.

You can hear the whole piece in the audio player above.

Related Topics