Unconventional Career Idea 💡Become a Nostalgia Curator

More than EVER, there’s this craving for simpler times. 🍂 🌳 🏡 🦆

We want nostalgia, comfort, and a break from the complexity of it all. (If my phone dings one more time…)

I’ve talked about this before: you can see it evidenced in all the nostalgic things we’re o-b-s-e-s-s-i-n-g over right now:

• Cottagecore—which romanticizes rural life, simple living, and a return to nature—is taking over the interiors world. (The aesthetic involves things like baking, gardening, foraging, and crafting—which just happens to be right up my alley right now, too. 🤣)
• Nostalgia-based TV shows had an awesome comeback: Stranger Things was set in the 80s, Cobra Kai is the offspin of The Karate Kid, Fuller House came out as the sequel to Full House.
• Retro comfort foods are in: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and even Dunkaroos are re-releasing products that were popular in the 80s and 90s.
• Vinyl records are very, very cool these days (esp in places like Brooklyn): people are loving the slower, more deliberate act of selecting a record, placing it on a turntable, and taking the time to really appreciate the music (instead of impatiently just skipping through it to your favorite song)
• Vintage fashion is hot, hot, hot: people value pieces that tell a story, rather than scream ‘fast fashion’
• And, of course, we’re seeing lots of traditional crafts being cool again, like letterpress printing, calligraphy, weaving, pottery. Like, how much do you want to take a class on that?! My point exactly.

There’s something about being transported back to a time when we were less stressed and life seemed more simple (or maybe just because we were kids with NO PROBLEMS THEN).

But, hey! That’s cool, because this column is all about observing current trends and brainstorming creative career ideas that work with those trends.

Which brings me to this week’s creative career:

NOSTALGIA CURATION.

This is…a…thing.

It’s called being a “nostalgia curator,” and your job is literally to help people relive or appreciate past decades, styles, or trends. (Wait for it—there are interesting ways to translate this into a modern business!)

I’m not just talking about throwing up an Instagram account devoted to nostalgia (though fun); rather, I’m talking about creating an entire business out of connecting people with the past.

For example:

• You could be a retro event planner specializing in organizing 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s themed events that transport attendees back in time. Have you seen Pan Am’s new private throwback flight they’re offering to just 50 passengers in the summer of 2025?! A ticket on that flight costs $65,500. THAT IS WILD. And guess who they’d 100% hire to help pull off such a special event? (Definitely a retro event planner specializing in that era!)
• This reminds me of another very, very cool job: historical consulting for period dramas. They need to have period-accurate sets, and period-accurate costumes, and period-accurate food, and period-accurate behavior, right? Where do you think they’re getting all of that from? THAT’S RIGHT, HISTORICAL CONSULTANTS—like Justin Pollard.
• You know when else historical / nostalgia consulting would be incredible? Whenever a company is launching a new product that has a nod to the past (or is a throwback product like we’re seeing with Dunkaroos, etc.). Imagine the PR campaigns you could help them create? Think: Emily in Paris, but make it historical.
• Or how about this idea: teaming up with paint, wallpaper, and interiors companies to help them create special retro product lines that speak to a certain era. Like if your house was built two hundred years ago and you want to authentically recreate the home’s decor with historical accuracy, this would be VERY cool. Just think how fun this would be to pitch to a modern paint company like Backdrop? I mean, just look at their partnership with Porsche! You know a company like that is open to fresh ideas.
• I could also see it being really, really cool if you were to curate books that showcase different eras in time—so if someone was interested in returning to the 1880s, you could easily buy 15 books that are set in that time period. (I’m not sure why more stores don’t do this—curation is HUGE right now. And, you’ll sell way more, too.)
• Ditto with other things like music—but maybe with different, more interesting and layered themes than just decades, but how about things like “these showcase the attitude of Americans during World War II,” and “these showcase what was taboo in the 50s,” etc.
• Most people think about curating nostalgic products like vintage cars and collectibles, but you know me—I’m always trying to present other, more modern options that give you more location freedom. (So you don’t have to be in one place with a bunch of inventory.) That said, I do think consulting is the way to go with this type of career speciality—and you can do plenty with it, if you get creative! For example, you could consult with authors writing historical novels. (This is a very real job.) You could consult with museums. You could consult with non-profit organizations bringing different time periods to life. (Like parks.) You could consult with fashion designers. You could consult with artists. You could consult with poets. You could consult with restaurants. (Think: themed menus.) You could consult with tourism organizations who want to sell their own nostalgic value. (Think: Lake Placid, NY, site of the 1932 + 1980 Winter Olympics.) You could consult with almost any industry, when looking at it through the lens of a different time era.
• This dude even created an entire art collection around “Digital Nostalgia” that encapsulates the sentiment of the early computing era. Some graphic designers even focus on retro aesthetics, curating collections of fonts, color palettes, and patterns that evoke specific time periods. (What a fun way to make a name for yourself, right?)
• Not for nothin’, but you could DEFINITELY create a paid newsletter around your theme of choice. And, remember our whole modern fan club conversation? Newsletters aren’t just a vehicle for information anymore: they’re an entire product in and of themselves. And there are 100% people who are obsessed with different periods of time, and would happily pay. (Again, like I encouraged in the modern fan club convo: people who are into things, pay for things.)
• Also—HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ZACK PINSET? He’s a historical tailor with almost 500K Instagram followers. Here is his adorable website & business that I am totally in love with. This just serves as proof that the internet LOVES niche and rewards those who have the nerve to go all-in on their weird. (He even makes clothes for historical-themed weddings. What!!!)
• You know what else you could even do? You could even be a nostalgia consultant for political candidates who need to subtly appeal to an aging constituency—which would be super interesting. I could see references being instrumental here, as well as subtle language and communication styles, and even very slight wardrobe nods.

Nostalgia curation is kind of cool, right?

There’s a lot of potential here, particularly now that we have advanced technology to be able to share our interests with others. (Before you’d just be a weirdo in a garage.)

The key here is in picking a lane and making it your calling card; your signature. Being a nostalgia curator for ~the past in general ~ isn’t going to make you stand out, but specializing in either a specific type of nostalgia, or nostalgia for a specific industry or place or focus, is the way to get started.

No matter the business model, you’d want a newsletter (because everyone needs a newsletter if they want to effectively sell their services online) and you’d want a solid website that makes it evident that you are THE subject matter expert on YOUR THING. If you brand yourself this way, you’ll make it drop-dead easy to get free publicity: all you have to do is monitor for any conversations around your theme, and then show up in someone’s inbox when that happens. Like the inbox of a journalist, for example, who’s looking for sources to quote. They would go to your website and see, instantly, that you are THE PERSON THEY NEED.

^^^ This is the beauty of picking a lane. Other people can clearly see you.

And the more you share, and the more you show up, and the more you talk about your thing, the more you’ll be recognized for your thing—and the easier marketing becomes. That’s the kind of cool thing about a career like this: it’s so unique, you won’t have a lot of competition. And, it’ll let you shine & create a neat career around something you are absolutely obsessed with. 😍 (And, you can do it from anywhere around the world: bonus!)

Overall, this is a remote work slam dunk. 🏀 So long as you dig all things nostalgia!

Do you know of anyone who does this or anything similar???? Or anything related to historic research & consulting? Anything with period dramas? (I know this is big in Britain, for obvious reasons. One of my London pals is even a makeup artist for period dramas!) If so, leave a comment and tell us anything you happen to know! Any insight could really help a person who’s playing with this idea. 🎉 And, how great is that?