Beatrix Potter, Sheep Farmer and Other Famous Career Switch Celebrities

While many dreamers aim to make it big as celebrities, those who succeed sometimes wind up switching careers. Career switch celebrities are often as successful in their new careers as in their original ones. Today, July 28, is Beatrix Potter's birthday. Did you know that Beatrix Potter was a successful sheep breeder as well as a children's author?

Beatrix Potter was born July 28, 1893. This children's author, who penned the tales of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny, among others, did not start out as a children's writer. Her original stories were letters to her former governess' sick child. After penning her successful The Tale of Peter Rabbit, she became a farmer and eventually a Herdwick sheep breeder. But, Potter couldn't draw sheep so she continued writing about rabbits and other small animals she could draw.

While Beatrix Potter is commonly celebrated for her children's books, her accomplishments as a sheep breeder were extensive. She raised prize-winning sheep and when she died in 1943 left her prize winning sheep herds and her 4,000 acres of land to England's National Trust.

After achieving literary success with the Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter went on to write The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, and The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies as well as 15 other children's books, a novel,and a collection of nursery rhymes. Potter was also published in 2 anthologies.

Beatrix Potter is hardly the only person to achieve fame in one field and later become successful with another career. Some famous career switch celebrities include:

Celebrity Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart achieved celebrity status with her catering business, then started Martha Steward Living Omnimedia, which owns Martha Stewart Living Magazine, a garden products line sold at K-Mart, and the popular television entertainment The Martha Stewart Show.

While Martha Stewart's current fame centers on cooking, decorating, and media, she was also successful in her pre-career switch occupation as a stockbroker. Steward abandoned her stockbroker career in 1973 because of a recession.