I was on facebook this afternoon and received a note from a young gal looking for advice on skiing professionally. After I wrote back answering her questions, I realized this would be great information to share with anyone who might have wondered these same things. Therefore I decided to post it onto my blog... "Heyy Angeli!!So this is a really random message... but my mom and I just had a life talk about me trying to pursue skiing as a career and what not and if I should keep going after it.. and we started talking about how I would support myself if I made it and how well I would do financially and what not and what I should do about school and blah blah blah... and the truth is that I really have no idea! So I decided to ask you, since you're one of the best girls in the skiing industry... like how you're making it? Like are your sponsors paying for all your travels and paying you enough to survive with living and food expenses and what not? Or do you still need to rely on parents or have a side job? And like what do you plan to do once your skiing career comes to an end and you might need to get a real job? Did you go to college and what not and have a degree to fall back on? Sorry I guess this is kinda personal information!!... but if you can help me out at all I would greatly appreciate it!! I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life and its not working hahaThank you so much!! Hope all is well!!"My reply:"Hey,Yeah no worries, I know exactly how you feel and to be quit honest have been exactly where you are at. However, very few would answer these questions for me, because you'll find people in the ski industry to be very secretive. Great people don't get me wrong, but it is a business. OK, so I have been living solely on my ski earnings for 2 years. Starting out, I had to spend a bit of my savings to get by without another side job. I have completed my associates degree (2 years of college) but since have taken time off to focus on skiing. As of now, my sponsors are paying for all my travel and skiing expenses, as well as retainer (money to live off of). I have always been great at budgeting my money and in the past few years have been able to put money back into my savings account. There is huge opportunity for us ladies out there in the ski industry... however, times are tough for all business right now with the state of the economy. So, this might be a hard time to get financial support from sponsors.I have decided on a career path post skiing this year, and that is PT (physical therapy). I do not know when I will get back into school, maybe this fall, maybe wait another few years. But I figure, school will always be there. Skiing is something you have to grasp now, for it is only going to get harder and harder to make a name for yourself, with tons of young guns (like yourself) getting into competing. Although my mom gives me the occasional massage coupon or buys me some ski socks... I have been fully supporting myself since I moved out of home at 18. It is possible to do, but I have made many sacrifices to make it work financially.Some examples: *Living in a one bedroom apartment with 4 other girls.*eating lots of pasta*living out of my car for the past 3 summers.etc...I guess the question to ask yourself, how much do you want it? Would you be satisfied with your accomplishments no matter what. Because you have to just go for it and risk falling flat on your face, but that is just life in general. Big Dreams, Big Risk. I am happy to answer any other questions or aid you in anyway getting to know how the industry works. I believe that there is enough out there for all of us and if you work hard you will find your place. So, there is no need to keep secrets about how it all works.:)Oh and yeah things are great. Just moved to Salt Lake City, UT for the summer. So excited to not have to live out of my car this year :)Hope you are doing well and that this email was at all helpful.Ang"